Turcianske Teplice Family Stress Survey

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Turcianske Teplice's residents have watched cautiously as their nation's political transformation has created new social and economic challenges to the stability of family life in the 1990s; many parents are working longer and harder to keep afloat in a competitive, market-oriented economy, while others face unemployment.

In an effort to gauge how such stressors are affecting adult and child health within the family unit, town officials and their US partners in 1996 began a two-part "family stress" survey of Turcianske Teplice's children and adults. The study's first part surveyed nearly 1,700 local schoolchildren, ages 10 to 18, on topics such as alcohol and drug use, self-esteem, diet, teen-parent relationships and academic performance.

Among the child health survey findings:

* Forty percent of respondents reported having smoked cigarettes, and 50 percent reported drinking alcohol within the past month--compared to a 35 percent rate in a similar US sample. Less than 5 percent said they had tried marijuana, a rate much lower than that of US teens.

* Seventy-four percent of children came from homes where both parents work full-time. Thirteen percent said their fathers were "underemployed or unemployed," while 18 percent said their mothers fell into this category.

* Twenty percent reported having sexual intercourse, as compared to over twice that rate in the US sample.

* Nearly a quarter of respondents had thought about suicide.

According to Elaine Borawski, PhD, survey coordinator and assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University, the Slovak teens reported less involvement in risky health behaviors or acts of juvenile delinquency, such as stealing or vandalism, than their US counterparts. But they also reported lower levels of self-esteem, physical activity and family involvement.

The survey revealed few differences between adolescents with two working parents and those with one working parent, she added. "But when there were differences, the children with working parents appeared to be more satisfied with themselves and life, reported fewer physical and emotional problems, and reported higher levels of family involvement."

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