Evaluation of risky behaviours and associated familial factors in YOUTH starting university education

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate risky behaviours and related familial factors in students who are new to university. Materials and Methods: The population of the cross-sectional study was composed of students who started Çukurova University in the 2021-2022 academic year. The minimum sample size representing the population was calculated as 573 with 50% frequency, 99% reliability and 5% margin of error. Data were collected in the last month of the fall semester using the Risk Behaviours Scale-University Form, Family APGAR Scale and sociodemographic information form. Results: The study was conducted with 648 participants, 59.1% of whom were women, with a mean age of 20.86±3.35 (18-57) years. Participants with a nuclear family had higher nutritional risk scores (p=0.019) and lower substance use scores (p=0.008) compared to other family types. Those whose mother's education is university or higher are in anti-social behavior (p=0.000), alcohol use (p=0.000), cigarette use (p=0.016) and substance use (p=0.004), and those whose father's education is university or higher are in anti-social behavior (p=0.000) and alcohol use (p=0.003) were found to score higher than the less educated groups. The school dropout score of the students with low family income perception was higher than the middle-high group (p=0.005). As the level of family APGAR groups decreases it was determined that; anti-social behaviour (p=0.000), alcohol use (p=0.003), smoking (p=0.002), suicidality (p=0.000), nutrition risk (p=0.000), dropout (p=0.000) and substance use (p=0.000) scores increased. Conclusion: In our study, it was found remarkable that the nutrition risk is higher in students with nuclear family type and that some risky behaviour scores increase as parent education increases, requiring further evaluation and taking necessary precautions. Considering the finding that all risky behaviour sub-dimension scores increase as family APGAR scores decrease, it is recommended that youth with low family functionality should be evaluated in more detail in family medicine practice in terms of risky behaviours, especially when starting university. Keywords: Family, Family practice, Risk assessment, Student, University