High-risk Behaviors: A Discriminant Analysis of Individual Factors in Students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explain the group membership model using discriminant analysis for high school students with high risk behaviors based on individual factors. The research method was correlational because the relationship between individual variables with high-risk behaviors in students was investigated. The statistical population was all high school male and female students who were studying in schools of Shiraz in the 2019 academic year. Sampling of this research was done by accessible method. The participants included 120 students who were matched in terms of age, educational level, parents' degree and relative socio-economic status and were divided into two groups. The first group included 30 boys and 30 girls with high-risk behaviors and the second group (the control group) included 60 participants (30 males and 30 females). To collect data, the scale of Iranian adolescent risk behaviors (IARS), Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale, Garnfsky cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, and Luthans psychological capital questionnaire were used. For statistical analysis, discriminant analysis method was used. The results indicated that the equation of discriminant analysis has the power to classify normal students and students with high-risk behavior based on individual variables (cognitive regulation of emotion, sensation seeking, and psychological capital). Also, the discriminant analysis equation had the power to classify normal students and students with high-risk behavior male students but in female students did not have any significant power