Self-esteem and value of health as correlates of adolescent health behavior.

As part of a project aimed at developing an adolescent health education program, 100 subjects aged 12-13 and 16-17 years were studied to determine the possible relationship between self-esteem and value of health and positive health behavior. Self-esteem was measured with the Gordon Personal Profile (Gordon, 1978), and value of health with Costa et al.'s (Costa, Jessor, & Donovan, 1989) Value of Health Scale. Both factors were found to be significantly correlated with certain dimensions of health behavior in both groups of adolescents.