News Release

International study shows Canadian adolescents less likely to turn to parents for support

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Queen's University

(Kingston, Ont.)--Fewer Canadian 13- and 15-year-olds find it easy to talk to their mothers about things that really bother them than their peers in most other countries, a Queen's University expert in children's health behaviour has found.

Dr. Alan King, principal investigator for the Canadian section of the World Health Organization's study of Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children released today, also found that 62 per cent of Canadian 15-year-old girls surveyed and 46 per cent of boys experienced difficulties talking to their fathers, a result which placed Canada in the top group of countries for this finding, along with England and the U.S.

"This was a very disconcerting finding, given that difficulties talking to parents is a big predictor of health risk activities, such as smoking, drinking and drugs," says Dr. King. "And teenagers' alienation from their mothers is strongly related to the stresses of adolescence in a society where there are high expectations of young people."

The study is based on a survey of the health-related behaviours and attitudes of more than 120,000 students, aged 11-, 13- and 15, in 28 countries. Contraceptive use, cigarette-smoking rates, binge drinking, eating habits, leisure time activities, medication use, attitudes towards school, parents and peers were among the critical youth-health behaviours surveyed and analyzed in the research study. Health Canada recently published a separate report, titled Trends in the Health of Canadian Youth, which focuses mainly on the Canadian findings of three earlier WHO surveys.

The new WHO report now makes it possible to compare Canadian students with students in other countries, Dr. King says. In the area of relationships with parents, "a significant minority of our girls especially seem to be greatly under stress. This is not unusual in Western Europe too, in all countries where women are making progress. There is a feeling of tension because of high expectations of girls."

Another finding is that 15-year-olds' relationship with their parents is closely related in all countries to how much discretionary time the youngsters spend outside the home, especially in the evening.

Other areas where Canadian youth scored significantly higher or lower than other countries include mental health, school, exercising and TV watching.

Comparisons with Canadian findings are sometimes surprising. For example, Canadian television-watching is well below the average in comparison with other countries. Youth from Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Israel and Poland spend more time watching TV than their peers in Canada. Thirty-two percent of Canadian children in grade 6 watch for four hours or more a day and 23 per cent in grade 10. Girls watch a little less TV than boys.

Canadian students rank low when it comes to teeth brushing and exercising and the reporting of stomach-ache, headache and backache.

The co-authors at Queen's University of Trends in the Health of Canadian Youth are Dr. King, Dr. Will Boyce, director of the social program evaluation group, and Matthew King, in charge of data collection and analysis.

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Spokespersons: Dr. Alan King, Faculty of Education, 613-533-6255.
Dr. William Boyce, Queen's Health Policy, 613-533-6000, ext. 77676

Contact: Anne Kershaw, Queen's Media Relations Manager, 613-533-6000, ext. 74038, email: kershaw@post.queensu.ca


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