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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Socioeconomic factors and health risk behaviors among adolescents
Catherine Cubbin1, Sara K Vesely, Paula A Braveman
1School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-0358, USA. ccubbin@austin.utexas.edu
Objectives:
To examine relationships between a wide range of socioeconomic factors, race/ethnicity, and adolescent risk behaviors.
Methods:
The Youth Asset Study (N = 1111) was used to examine multivariate relationships between sexual initiation, alcohol use, tobacco use, and drug use and 8 socioeconomic factors.
Results:
Socioeconomic factors beyond income and parental education (eg, wealth) were associated with some health behaviors depending upon gender. However, we did not find that a wider range of factors helped us better understand racial/ethnic disparities.
Conclusions:
Even the more comprehensive set of socioeconomic factors considered may not accurately capture the underlying construct of adolescent SES.
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