Un estudio de la influencia del autoconcepto multidimensional sobre el estilo de vida saludable en la adolescencia temprana.

Resum

The main purpose of this study was to examine health lifestyle and self-concept during early adolescence across the gender, age and socioeconomic status; and to examine the relationships among the health behaviours and the dimensions of self-concept. The sample was representative of students from the Valencian Community (N = 965) between 11 and 16 years old. Self-concept was evaluated by a Spanish version of Harters (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children (Atienza, Balaguer & Moreno, 2002), and health behaviours and demographic variables were evaluated by a Spanish traslation of the WHOs research protocol about Health Behaviour in School-Children (HBSC) (Balaguer, 1990, 2002; Wold, 1995). The results of this investigation indicated that substance use (tobacco, alcohol and cannabis) is initiated during early adolescence. The perceptions on different domains of self-concept (excepting social acceptance) declined between 11 and 16 years old. Athletic competence and social acceptance are the dimensions with the strongest influence on physical activity and sport practice. Behavioral conduct and social acceptance have the most powerfull influence on sustance use. Finally, sports practice has a negative effect on substance use in girls.