Antisocial behavior of Spanish adolescents: Prevalence and relationship with their perceived global health

Abstract

Engagement in antisocial behavior during adolescence is a controversial issue causing social concern and with implications for the adolescents. This research is based on data from the 2014 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study and aims to determine the prevalence rate of antisocial behavior in 11-16-year-old adolescents and examine the relationship between antisocial behavior and perceived global health. The sample is composed of 9775 adolescents enrolled in school in Spain (50.95% girls). Results show a similar prevalence for boys and girls in all categories except in destruction, which is more prevalent in boys. However, discrepancies were found in the prevalence of engaging in antisocial behavior according to age, with a higher prevalence in older age groups. It was found that lesser antisocial acts are associated with a worse health score at all ages regardless of sex, justifying the need to carry out preventive interventions and tackle the circumstances that promote antisocial behavior.