Schools differ in the proportion of their pupils who smoke. Such differences transcend pupil intake characteristics and relate to the internal life of the school. Although adolescents' smoking behaviour has been associated with that of their peers, little consideration has been given to whether...

This paper aims to explain previously described increases in self-reported psychological distress between 1987 and 2006 among samples identical in respect of age (15 years), school year and geographical location (West of Scotland). Such increases might be explained by changes in exposure...

Previous studies found lower substance use in schools achieving better examination and truancy results than expected, given their pupil populations (high value-added schools). This study examines whether these findings are replicated in West Scotland and whether school ethos indicators focussing...

Until recently, the role of the family in the 'health inequalities' debate has been largely ignored. Using data from the youngest cohort in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study, three dimensions of family life (family structure, culture and conflict) are examined in respect of their association...

Many studies report few socioeconomic (SES) differences in health in youth, a pattern contrasting with that of health inequalities in childhood and adulthood. This paper focuses on the child-youth transition to examine the hypothesis of equalisation in health over this period. Specifically, we...

This paper tests the hypothesis of an emerging or increasing female excess in general ill-health and physical symptoms, as well as psychological distress, during early to mid-adolescence. Self-reported data on general health (longstanding illness and health in the last 12 months), recent...

The emergence of higher reported morbidity in females compared with males is a feature of adolescent health in a large proportion of the world's industrialised countries. In this paper, qualitative data from twenty-five single-sex focus groups (90 participants in total) conducted with 10-, 13-,...

It is conventional wisdom in medical sociology and social epidemiology that in industrialized societies men die earlier than women, but that women have poorer health than men. A number of explanations for these differences have been postulated and tested (for example, different biological risks,...

This paper reviews findings on sex differences in health among children and adolescents, concentrating particularly on the ages 7-15 years. The overall picture is of a gradual emergence of excess morbidity in females over this life stage. In respect of overall levels of chronic illness, higher...