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Individuals who experience stress can engage in health-risk behaviours that may decrease work performance. The aim of this study was to determine perceived stress levels in Brazilian workers and verify whether perceived stress was associated with health-risk behaviours. Stress levels of 1,270 workers (1,019 men, 251 women) were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale. The health-risk behaviours investigated were low intake of vegetables and fruits, daily smoking, high-risk alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and the presence of obesity. The Student's  t -test or one-way analysis of variance was used to assess differences in stress levels. Ordinal regression was used to determine the association between the degrees of stress and health-risk behaviours. Women had higher perceived stress levels than men. In addition, perceived stress levels were higher in those who had low socioeconomic status, were unmarried, had a negative perception of their health, were smokers, or had obesity. Smoking and the presence of two or more health-risk behaviours were associated with 1.84 (95% CI: 1.24-2.73) times and 1.49 (95% CI: 1.18-1.89) times higher odds of experiencing higher degrees of stress, respectively. In women, such an association was observed with the presence of obesity (odds ratio: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.01-3.98).

This study aimed to identify the prevalence of health-risk behaviours (alcohol use, tobacco smoking and gambling) and the associations between health-risk behaviours and injuries among youth (15-24 years) and young adults (25-39 years). A multi-stage cluster sampling survey was conducted in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The associations between health-risk behaviours and injuries were analysed using logistic regression and adjusted for potential confounders. Sample weights were applied in all analyses. Six-hundred-and-thirty participants were included. Fifty-three percent of males and 12.3% of females drank in the past three months. Smoking in the past three months was higher among males (38.5%) than females (0.7%). About a quarter of men and a fifth of the women had gambled in the past year. A total of 6.4% of males and 4.8% of females sought medical attention in the past year due to injuries. Compared to those without any of the three health-risk behaviours, the odds ratio for injuries requiring medical attention was 3.81 (95% CI: 1.33 to 10.90, p = 0.013) for those with two health-risk behaviours and 13.8 (95% CI: 4.24 to 45.10, p < 0.001) for those with all three health-risk behaviours. Injury prevention policies may need to incorporate interventions designed to assess multiple health-risk behaviours.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to elucidate the pathway of associations linking gambling, alcohol intake, smoking habit, cannabis consumption between each other and with demographic and socioeconomic variables., Setting and Participants: A survey was conducted in 2017 on a representative sample of 15 602 Italian 14-year-olds to 17-year-olds attending 201 secondary schools., Outcome Measures: Structural Equation Models analysis was used to assess the pathway between gambling, alcohol intake, smoking, cannabis consumption, demographics and socioeconomic factors., Results: Irrespective of socioeconomic or demographic variables, gambling is positively associated with alcohol and cannabis consumption, while cannabis consumption is predicted by smoking and by alcohol intake, smoking is predicted by alcohol intake. Adolescents with a higher weekly income are more at risk of gambling, drinking alcohol and smoking, while the degree of economic dissatisfaction was positively associated with alcohol intake, cannabis consumption and smoking. Maternal employment appeared to be positively associated with adolescents' smoking, alcohol intake and cannabis consumption., Conclusions: This is one of the first studies to shed light on the pathways of associations connecting various health-risk behaviours among adolescents with demographic and socioeconomic factors., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine whether an aggregate of health risk behaviours is associated with the number of untreated dental caries among 12‐ and 15‐year‐old children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Materials and Methods: Data were from the Children's Dental Health Survey (CDHS) 2013, a nationally representative sample of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The survey included assessment of oral health and data on socioeconomic, demographic and behavioural factors pertaining to children aged 12–15 years. Tooth condition (decayed, missing and filled) was assessed by NHS dentists. The survey included questions on age, sex, country, index of multiple deprivation, smoking, alcohol consumption, frequent sugar consumption and sweetened sodas, infrequent dental visit, infrequent toothbrushing and infrequent consumption of fresh fruits. Health risk behaviours were summed up to create an aggregate variable of health risk behaviour. The association between number of untreated caries and the aggregate of health risk behaviours was assessed using negative binomial regression and adjusting for age, sex, country and deprivation. Results: The total number of children included in the analysis was 4414. The mean number of untreated caries was generally higher among children with health risk behaviours. The aggregate of risk behaviour was associated with greater prevalence of untreated dental caries with rate ratio (RR) 1.26 (95% confidence interval: 1.18, 1.36). Conclusion: This study demonstrated an association between an aggregate of health risk behaviours and untreated caries. The findings highlight the importance of addressing multiple risk factors not only those directly related to dental caries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor diet, physical inactivity, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption are major risk factors for chronic disease and premature mortality. These behaviours are of concern among higher education students and may be linked to psychological distress which is problematic particularly for students on programmes with practicum components such as nursing and teaching. Understanding how risk behaviours aggregate and relate to psychological distress and coping among this population is important for health promotion. This research examined, via a comprehensive survey undergraduate nursing/midwifery and teacher education students’ (n = 1557) lifestyle behaviour (Lifestyle Behaviour Questionnaire), self-reported psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire) and coping processes (Ways of Coping Questionnaire). The results showed that health- risk behaviours were common, including alcohol consumption (93.2%), unhealthy diet (26.3%), physical inactivity (26%), tobacco smoking (17%), cannabis use (11.6%) and high levels of stress (41.9%). Students tended to cluster into two groups: those with risk behaviours (n = 733) and those with positive health behaviours (n = 379). The group with risk behaviours had high psychological distress and used mostly passive coping strategies such as escape avoidance. The potential impact on student health and academic achievement is of concern and suggests the need for comprehensive health promotion programmes to tackle multiple behaviours. As these students are the nurses and teachers of the future, their risk behaviours, elevated psychological distress and poor coping also raise concerns regarding their roles as future health educators/promoters. Attention to promotion of health and well-being among this population is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]