Preface	6
	Contents	8
	List of figures	10
	List of tables	11
	1 Introduction	14
	1.1 Background	14
	1.2 Aims of the study and research questions	17
	1.3 Structure and content of the volume	21
	2 Conceptual framework	23
	2.1 What is risk behaviour?	23
	2.2 Risk behaviour in adolescence: a general framework	24
	2.2.1 Risk behaviour as reaction to developmental tasks	26
	2.2.2 Functions of risk behaviour	28
	2.2.3 Integrative model of risk behaviour	30
	2.3 Determinants of adolescent risk behaviour	32
	2.3.1 Age and gender	33
	2.3.2 Socio-economic status	35
	2.3.3 Peer and school context	37
	2.4 Consequences of risk behaviour	40
	3 Material and methods	43
	3.1 Research context	43
	3.2 The “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)” study	44
	3.3 Data collection procedures and samples	45
	3.3.1 International data	46
	3.3.2 German data	48
	3.3.3 Northrhine-Westphalian data	49
	3.4 Instrument and variables	50
	3.4.1 Risk behaviour	51
	3.4.2 Parental and ‘own’ socio-economic status	51
	Family affluence	52
	Parental occupation	53
	Type of school	54
	Academic achievement	54
	3.4.3 Peer and school factors	55
	School factors	55
	Peer factors	55
	3.4.4 Health outcomes	56
	3.5 Statistical analyses	58
	Age and gender differences and patterns of adolescent risk behaviour	58
	Socio-economic determinants and patterns of adolescent risk behaviour	58
	The role of social context for adolescent risk behaviour	59
	Consequences of adolescent risk behaviour	59
	4 Results of the empirical studies	61
	4.1 Age and gender differences and patterns of risk behaviour in adolescence	61
	Age and gender differences in risk behaviour in Germany	62
	Age and gender patterns over time	64
	Age and gender patterns across countries	67
	4.2 Socio-economic determinants and patterns of adolescent risk behaviour	71
	Socio-economic differences in risk behaviour in Germany	71
	Trends in socio-economic differences in risk behaviour	76
	Socio-economic differences in risk behaviour across countries	79
	4.3 The role of social contexts for adolescent risk behaviour	83
	4.4 Consequences of risk behaviour	86
	Consequences of risk behaviour in Germany	86
	Consequences of risk behaviour across countries	89
	5 Discussion and perspectives	92
	5.1 Summary of the results	92
	5.2 Implications and perspectives for research and practice	96
	Implications for research	96
	Health promotion implications	99
	References	104