Description/Overview: Overweight and mental health problems in adolescents are two major public health problems. Understanding factors influencing overweight and mental health problems is important in order to develop interventions to reduce their prevalence. This symposium will describe factors that influence healthy lifestyle beliefs, behaviors and mental health in adolescents. Data for the three studies in this symposium were gathered at baseline with 493 high school adolescents who are participating in a NIH-NINR funded study that is determining the efficacy of the 15-session COPE/Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotion, Exercise, Nutrition) Program in the Southwest region of the United States. Fifty-five percent (n=272) of the sample is female and 76 percent (n=376) of the sample is Hispanic. Seventy-seven percent (n=382) of the sample is in the 9th grade. Twelve percent of the sample (n=69) reported elevated depressive symptoms and 20 percent (n=103) reported elevated anxiety symptoms. Forty-three percent (n=212) of the teens participating in the study are overweight or obese. The first paper in this symposium will describe correlates of healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors in the adolescents. In the second paper, relationships among parent BMI and healthy lifestyle behaviors and their teens’ healthy lifestyle beliefs, behaviors and mental health indices will be presented. Lastly, the third paper will focus on the teens’ perceptions of barriers encountered in leading a healthy lifestyle. Implications for further research and clinical practice will be highlighted.

Learner Objective #1: Describe the demographics and prevalence of overweight and mental health indices of adolescents participating in the COPE study.

Learner Objective #2: Discuss implications for future research and clinical practice from the baseline findings in the COPE study.