Theoretical perspective on mutliple risk behaviour: The influence of social capital on substance use and sexual-risk taking among young men and women.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of social capital on adolescent binge drinking, smoking and sexual behaviour, focusing specifically on the conceptualizations of social capital promulgated by three prominent theorists: Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman and Robert Putnam. The data used for this study is a sub-sample extracted from Statistic Canada\u27s 1996--1997 National Population Health Survey. The sample for the present study comprises 2159 male respondents and 2019 female respondents between the ages of 15 and 19 years. The methods of analysis include ordinary least squares and logistic regressions. Risk behaviours were tested separately and in a global scale to determine the effect of social capital on individual behaviours as well as on multiple risk-taking. This study found that higher levels of social capital explain lower levels of risk behaviours. Tested separately, social capital worked best for binge drinking and smoking and had the least effect on sexual behaviour. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, page: 0842. Adviser: Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2003