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Despite this natural growth, many die from largely preventable causes and many more suffer ongoing illness linked to violence, HIV and other diseases, poor nutrition, substance use, and suicide. The article explains how key risk factors—bullying, homelessness, mental health, nutrition, sexual health, and substance use—undermine overall health and well-being. It also summarizes prevalence in the United States and globally, and outlines intervention and prevention actions for countries, communities, schools, and individuals.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/risk-factors-and-their-effect-on-young-adolescents-health-and-wellbeing/580645/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/risk-factors-and-their-effect-on-young-adolescents-health-and-wellbeing/580645.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Miles","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the article define “risk factor” for young adolescents?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It uses the WHO definition: a characteristic or exposure that increases the likelihood of negative health outcomes now or in the future.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which risk factors does the article focus on?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It focuses on bullying, homelessness, mental health, nutrition, sexual health, and substance use.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What kinds of solutions does the article discuss to reduce these risk factors?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It outlines intervention and prevention actions for countries, communities, school districts, schools, and individuals, and addresses comprehensive school health education/programs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},580645,1792429998,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},13056703019404,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Middle Grades Review  \n\n| Volume 10  Issue 2 | Article 2 |\n| --- | --- |\n| December 2024\u003Cbr>Risk Factors and Their Effect on Young Adolescents' Health and Well-Being\u003Cbr>Steven B. Mertens\u003Cbr>Illinois State University, [smertens@ilstu.edu](smertens@ilstu.edu)\u003Cbr>Micki M. Caskey\u003Cbr>Portland State University, [caskeym@pdx.edu](caskeym@pdx.edu)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview](https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview)\u003Cbr> Part of the Education Commons |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nMertens, S. B., & Caskey, M. M. (date) . Risk factors and their effect on young adolescents' health and wellbeing. Middle Grades Review, vol(issue) .  \nThis Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education and Social Services at UVM ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Middle Grades Review by an authorized editor of UVM ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [schwrks@uvm.edu](schwrks@uvm.edu).  \nRisk Factors and Their Effect on Young Adolescents’ Health and Well-Being  \nSteven B. Mertens, Illinois State University  \nMickiM. Caskey, Portland State University  \nAbstract  \nYoung adolescents undergo rapid physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and sexual development, including puberty, sexual awareness, gender identity, physiological brain and cognitive growth, complex emotions, and impulse control. Tragically, thousands of adolescents die daily from mostly preventable causes such as violence, sexual health problems including HIV, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, poor nutrition, substance use, and suicide. Many more endure ill health due to these causes. In this article, we describe the risk factors related to bullying, homelessness, mental health, nutrition, sexual health, and substance use disrupting young adolescents’ overall health and well-being. We report the prevalence of these risk factors in the United States and internationally, noting the myriad effects of each factor. We also identify intervention and prevention actions that countries, communities, school districts, schools, and individuals can take to reduce or forestall these risk factors for young adolescents. Lastly, we discuss comprehensive school health education/programs and articulate the principal issues that society needs to address to improve the health and well-being of young adolescents.  \nIntroduction  \nYoung adolescents’ health and well-being demands the full attention of teachers, families, and community members. They comprise more than 9% of the world’s population (~787,000 individuals) and live in communities around the world (United Nations, 2022) . Who are young adolescents? Some organizations describe them as youth ages 10–14 (World Health Organization [WHO], 2024a), while others describe them as 10–15-year-olds (Adolescent Success, 2019; Bishop & Harrison, 2021) . Whatever the age ranges, these youth are experiencing rapid and significant developmental changes with implications for their health and overall wellbeing. In this article, we use the term early adolescence when referring to the stage of development, and the term young adolescents for the young people in this stage of development.  \nDuring early adolescence (i.e., the stage of development), young adolescents are transitioning from childhood to adolescence. Physically, they experience growth spurts, puberty, and neural changes in the brain (Patton, 2016). Cognitively, they begin to acquire the capacity for abstract thinking, ideological reasoning, argumentation, and introspection (Brinegar & Caskey, 2022). Social-emotionally, young adolescents develop the ability for interacting with others while regulating their own emotions (Harrison et al., 2019); they have  \na strong need to belong to a peer group and experiment with new behaviors. Psychologically, they are undergoing identity formation and seeking independence by exploring and experimenting with various roles and social identities (Brinegar & Caskey) . Du","cbCaik6NrnxMxYfw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaik6NrnxMxYfw","pdf",445166,26,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Risk Factors\n## Bullying","[{\"question\":\"How does the article define “risk factor” for young adolescents?\",\"answer\":\"It uses the WHO definition: a characteristic or exposure that increases the likelihood of negative health outcomes now or in the future.\"},{\"question\":\"Which risk factors does the article focus on?\",\"answer\":\"It focuses on bullying, homelessness, mental health, nutrition, sexual health, and substance use.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of solutions does the article discuss to reduce these risk factors?\",\"answer\":\"It outlines intervention and prevention actions for countries, communities, school districts, schools, and individuals, and addresses comprehensive school health education/programs.\"}]","Risk factors and their effect on young adolescents' health and wellbeing | PDF",1792038013,66]