The Israeli HBSC (Health Behavior in School-Aged Children) research program was established in 1993 by Dr. Yossi Harel – Fish as a multi - disciplinary research program, deals with the most important and central issues in the life of children and adolescents in Israel, the Middle East and the world in general. The Research program has a solid foundation in behavioral and social science, and in preventive medicine and public health. The research team includes principal investigators, research fellows, post - doctoral fellows and graduate students from different departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences and other areas such as the Department of Statistics. The team works closely with researchers in research institutes and other universities in 46 countries in Europe and North America who are linked together through the multi – national research of the WHO. The program enjoys a competitive research grants from international foundations and government agencies.
Publications produced from the research program deal with wide variety of areas related to youth science and include topics such as: injury prevention exploration, driving patterns of young drivers, the hookah smoking phenomenon, dietary habits and eating disorders, alcohol and drugs use, hidden dropout from school, parental involvement and family culture, volunteerism and community involvement, social capital resources exploration, development of indicators to happiness and mental, physical, social and spiritual well-being, and more. של האדם ועוד.