Preventing youth problem behaviors and enhancing physical health by promoting core competencies.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the present study was to investigate the longitudinal relations between specific core competencies, problem behaviors, and physical health among adolescents. METHODS The study used two waves of data collected 1 year apart from the Add Health data set. The Add Health data set is a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7 to 12. A total of 14,010 respondents were included in this study. There were two outcomes that were examined in this study: problem behavior (as observed by seven different behaviors), and health (general health and physical problems). RESULTS We found that problem behavior and health outcomes were two distinct behavioral patterns that were related to one another. The two outcomes also shared common developmental predictors. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that a focus on core competencies is an important target for preventive interventions; among the competencies measured low self-control was the strongest single predictor of problem behaviors and adverse health outcomes.