...data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), the paper contrasts the three most prominent interpretations of social capital by Bourdieu (1985, 1990), Coleman (1988, 1990), and Putnam (2000) in their association with multiple risk activities. Social capital indicators were significant predictors of risk behaviour among all adolescents; however, they were stronger predictors for males than females. Coleman's model, focusing on the family's role in social capital, had the strongest predictive power for males; whereas Putnam's model, focusing on social capital located in group and organizational membership, had the strongest predictive power for females. The findings support the conclusion that social capital is an important explanatory framework to consider when trying to understand adolescent risk behaviours.

Key words: Multiple risk activities, social capital, adolescents.

Introduction

Adolescence is a challenging developmental period characterized by experimentation, curiosity (Benda & Corwyn, 1998; Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 1998) and uncertainty (Feldman & Elliott, 1990), making it a period of heightened potential for risk-taking. Consumption of health compromising substances such as alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs, as well as unprotected sexual activity that carries risk for unwanted pregnancy and infection, are among the risk-related activities taken up by many adolescents.

These risk behaviours among adolescents have been associated with social and economic costs, in both the short and long term, including accidents, violence, suicide, chronic or acute health conditions, truncated educational achievement and reduced employment opportunity, as well as direct financial burdens to health care and to other social services (Benda & Corwin, 1998; Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 1998; Health Canada, 2001; MacDonald, 1984; Marcos & Bahr, 1988; Marcos, Bahr, & Johnson, 1986; Smith, 1984; Taub & Skinner, 1990; The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994). Research suggests that engaging in one form of risk behaviour may be correlated with an increased likelihood to engage in other risk behaviours (Dryfoos, 1991; Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 1998), compounding the negative consequences. Little, however, is known about predictors of such multiple risk activities (Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 1998).

In this paper we use social capital as a framework within which to understand social influences on adolescent multiple risk-taking. Very generally, "social capital" refers to intangible resources inherent in the structure of social relations that contribute to minimizing, preventing and/or to solving common problems for individuals and communities (Coleman, 1988; 1990; Putnam, 2000). These resources include information channels, networks of reciprocity through which tangible resources can be sought, and norms of behaviour. Research on adolescent risk-taking has begun to refer to the concepts and processes inherent in social capital theory, however, a literature that explicitly applies the theory to adolescent risk-taking, is only beginning to emerge (Crosby, Holtgrave, DiClemente, Wingood, & Gayle, 2003; Denner, Kirby, Coyle, & Brindis, 2001; Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995; Gold, Kennedy, Connell, & Kawachi, 2002; Morrison, Howard, Hardy, & Stinson, 2005; Weitzman & Chen, 2005). There is little attention in this literature, however, to the ways in which social capital differentially affects patterns of risk behaviour between males and females. Accordingly, this study extends both the social capital literature and the adolescent risk-taking literature by using the concept to explain youth involvement in multiple risk activities, namely tobacco use, alcohol consumption (binge drinking), having multiple sexual intercourse partners and condom use, with a focus on different patterns between males and females. We examine the separate influences of social capital as conceptualized and operationalized based on the work of three leading theorists: Bourdieu (1986; 1990), Coleman (1988; 1990), and Putnam (2000).

In short, four interrelated questions are asked in this paper: (1) Is multiple risk-taking behaviour among adolescents related to their levels of available social capital? (2) How does the relationship between multiple risk-taking behaviour and social capital vary by gender? (3) Which of the three interpretations of social capital, Bourdieu's, Coleman's or Putnam's, best predicts adolescent risk-taking? and (4) What are the implications of these findings for further developing an understanding of social capital for adolescents? We draw upon cross-sectional data for Canadian youth aged 15 to 19 from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), administered by Statistics Canada in 1996/1997.

Literature Review and Theoretical Background

Adolescent Risk Behaviour

Although most youth navigate adolescence successfully, for a significant minority, risk behaviours, such as smoking, drinking, the use of recreational drugs, unprotected sexual activity and multiple sex partners, comprise a portion of their adolescent experience. Recent results of the 2004-2005 Youth Smoking Survey document that 21% of youth in Grades 5 through 9 have tried smoking tobacco (Health Canada, 2005), representing a decrease of 50% since 1994. Gilmore's review of national surveys conducted between 1985 and 2001 demonstrated that a decrease in smoking also took place among 15- to 19-year-olds, from a level of 28.5% in 1995 to 22.5% in 2001 (Gilmore, 2002). However, there still remains a sizable number of young Canadians who have experience with tobacco. Alcohol consumption among youth is even more prevalent. In the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey, 77% of 15- to 17-year-olds and 97% of 18- to 19-year-olds reported that they had used alcohol at some time in their lives, with 62% and 91% respectively reporting use in the past year. It is notable that among those who had used alcohol in the past year, 29% and 42% respectively reported regular binge drinking (5 or more drinks on a single occasion) (Demers & Poulin, 2005).

Finally, the majority of Canadian youth initiate sexual intercourse between 16 and 19 years of age (Boyce, Doherty, Fortin, & MacKinnon, 2003; Maticka-Tyndale, 1997; SIECCAN, 2004) at an average age of 16.7 for males and 16.8 for females (Hansen, Mann, McMahon & Wong 2004). From a public health perspective there is ongoing interest in the number of sexual partners youth have and in how well they are protecting themselves against both sexually transmitted infections (STI) and early pregnancy. In their survey of Canadian youth, Boyce et al. (2003) found that among Grade 11 students who had ever had intercourse, 50% reported having more than one partner with approximately 15% of males and 9% of females reporting more than six partners. Among their Grade 9 counterparts, 22% of boys and 14% of girls reported having had between four and ten sexual partners (Boyce et al., 2003). While 90% of youth reported using some form of contraception at last intercourse, about 40% had not used a condom at last intercourse, which is most important for protecting against STI (Boyce et al., 2003; Rotermann, 2005). In this regard, trends in condom use among females are of particular interest. Numerous studies conducted since the late 1990s demonstrate that females are more likely than males to have intercourse without a condom (Ford, Sohn, & Lepkowski, 2001; Martin & Wu, 2000; Maticka-Tyndale, Barrett, & McKay, 2000; Maticka-Tyndale, 2001; Rotermann, 2005).

Social Capital Theory

Social capital refers to features and resources inherent in the structure of social relations (e.g., information channels, social supports, and material aid) which individuals and communities can draw upon to prevent and/or solve common problems (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; 1990; Putnam, 2000). High stocks of social capital make it possible for individuals and communities to avoid or deal with problems such as drug, tobacco, alcohol use, or sexual and other risk behaviours (Coleman, 1988; 1990) and to overcome other community struggles such as racism, depleted social welfare programs, crime (Portes, 1998; Putnam, 1993), and employment and income inequities (Loury, 1977).

Social capital is created in the course of interaction between individuals and groups, organizations and communities, and depends on the interest people have in each other and in the group (Putnam, 2000). Stocks of social capital available to individuals and to communities are high when there is a high level of individual involvement in a community or group. These stocks of social capital build trust, expectations of reciprocity, access to knowledge and resources through interpersonal channels, and they also establish an expectation, willingness and desire to conform to group norms. Some examples of groups that may be locations for social capital for youth that are cited in the literature include: families, friendship groups, neighbourhoods, churches/synagogues/mosques, schools, and clubs or sports teams (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; 1990; 1993; 1994; Putnam, 2000).

Coleman's conceptualization of social capital (1988; 1990) focuses on the social capital available in family relationships. For Coleman the stronger the parent and child relationship, the more social capital is available to the child. The fostering of social capital within the family is dependent on the physical presence of parents/adults in the home and on the attention given to children by those adults. Accordingly, Coleman suggests that the traditional nuclear family of two parents and two children has the highest social capital available to youth. Single-parent families are thought to disrupt the children's social development (see Schneider & Coleman, 1993), and social capital is argued to be diluted with additional children in the home (Coleman, 1988). Coleman does not, however, comment about the nature of the parent-child relationship, whether biological, adoptive, step-parent or otherwise.

Bourdieu and Putnam focus on the social capital accrued to individuals by virtue of their participation in the larger society. Bourdieu (1986) focuses on social interaction and group membership suggesting that an individual's titles or names, friendships or associations, memberships in social groups and citizenship are indicators of social capital (see Wall, Ferrazzi, & Schryer, 1998). Likewise, Putnam (2000) argues that social capital is fostered through citizenship. For Putnam, social capital is reflected in activities such as voting, newspaper readership, participation in sports and cultural associations, and expressions of trust in political authorities (Portes, 1998; Wall et al., 1998).

Without referring to the concept explicitly, the literature on adolescent risk-taking appears to support the propositions of social capital theory and demonstrates the ways in which social relationships influence risk behaviour in youth. Consistent with Coleman's identification of the family as a source of social capital, a number of studies on adolescent risk-taking have found that children from "non-intact" or "non-standard" families are significantly more likely to use drugs and/or to engage in unsafe sexual behaviour than those from nuclear, two-parent families (Dorius, Heaton, & Steffen, 1993; Ellickson & Morton, 1999; Upchurch, Aneschensel, Sucoff & Levy-Storms,...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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