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Abstract
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PURPOSE: This study analyzed the types and predictors of violent behaviors reported by 4,137 South Carolina adolescents, grades nine through twelve. METHODS: The 70 item self-report Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed and piloted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was utilized in 57 of the state's public high schools. A series of logistic regression analyses were performed for each race/gender group to explore the relation of the demographic and potential risk variables to fighting and carrying weapons. RESULTS: Results indicate that 38 percent of males and 11 percent of females reported carrying a weapon. Eleven percent of males and five percent of females reported fights resulting in an injury. The strongest predictors of fighting were binge drinking and sexual activity for males, any alcohol use and illegal drug use for white females, and sexual activity for black females. For carrying a weapon, the strongest predictors included alcohol use and sexual activity in all but white females, and illegal drug use among whites, but not blacks. CONCLUSION: Prevention of adolescent violence calls for creative approaches in school and community settings and will require long-term intervention strategies, focused on adolescent behavior change and environmental modifications.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this article by Valois et al. was to analyze fighting and weapon carrying among high school students and to identify predictors of these behaviors.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a quasi-experimental research design in this study. Data was gathered using of the South Carolina Youth Risk Behavior Survey which was administered to a sample of ninth through twelfth graders in South Carolina. To obtain their sample the authors first selected the 219 schools in the state that contained these grades. These schools were then classified as being large (1,285-1,577 students), medium (887-1,278), or small (74-874 students). One hundred schools were then selected to represent the numbers in each size category. Of the 100 schools, 57 agreed to participate in the study. Seventeen of these schools were classified by the authors as being large, 22 as medium-sized, and 18 as small. The student response rate within the participating schools was 84%, with a total sample of 4,137 students. The majority of students were white (62%), but there were a large proportion of black respondents as well (38%). Other racial and ethnic groups were excluded from the analysis because their numbers were so few.
The instrument used in the study was a 70-item self-report survey that included questions about violent and high-risk behaviors such as alcohol and substance use, fighting and carrying weapons, and sexual activity, as well as questions about frequency of hard exercise and amount of television watched. The dependent variables in this study were fights resulting in injury in the past 30 days (requiring medical attention) and carrying a weapon in the past 30 days. These were dichotomized to reflect "involvement" or "no involvement" in each. The independent variables were dichotomized in the following manner: alcohol use in past 30 days (use or any binges/no use or binges); drug use in past 30 days (ever/never); hard exercise in past two weeks (any/none); sexual activity in past three months (two or more partners/one or no partners); and television/video viewing in past three months (more than 3 hours per day/less than 3 hours per day). It was hypothesized that these independent variables would differentially influence the dependent variables according to the race and gender of the respondent, so these two variables were also introduced into the analysis.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Nearly 39% of students reported carrying a weapon in the previous 30 days. Among these students, knives were the most frequently carried weapon for males and females, black and white, although black males were just as likely to carry guns as knives. Weapon carrying decreased with age among white females and black males. The strongest predictors for carrying a weapon were alcohol and sexual activity for all groups except white females, and illegal drug use among whites only. Above all, it was found that the most important predictor of carrying a weapon was gender, as males (38%) reported carrying weapons more frequently than females (11%).
Gender was also the most important predictor of fighting. Eleven percent of the males reported participating in a fight resulting in injury in the preceding 30 days, compared to less than 5% of the females. For males binge drinking and sexual activity were found to be the strongest predictors of fighting. Among black females sexual activity was a strong predictor of fighting while for white females both alcohol and illegal drug use were strong predictors.
The authors concluded that a significant number of high school students are carrying weapons and participating in fights resulting in injury. They stressed the significance of their finding that black males were more likely to carry guns than other groups, charging that this ready access to firearms increased the likelihood of their fights becoming lethal. The authors further concluded that the association between age and risk behavior may have reflected younger students over-reporting their participation in risk behavior, the maturation of older students, or high risk students dropping out of school. It was argued that the relation between sexual activity and carrying weapons was not necessarily causal; rather, they posited that it probably represented a clustering of risk behaviors for certain adolescents. The authors noted their surprise that both hard exercise and television watching appeared to have no significant relationship to fighting or carrying a weapon, contrary to the findings of previous research. It was concluded that efforts to prevent weapon carrying and fighting in schools must focus on the personality, environmental and behavioral attributes of students, for risk factors can be found in all of these areas.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
Juvenile Firearms Carrying
Juvenile Weapons Carrying
Senior High School Student
Grade 9
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
Early Adolescence
Late Adolescence
Violence Predictors
South Carolina
Juvenile Substance Use
Alcohol Related Violence
Alcohol Use Effects
Drug Use Effects
Drug Related Violence
Juvenile Sexual Activity
Fighting Behavior
Juvenile Behavior
Behavior Predictors
Behavior Causes
Violence Causes
Gender Differences
Male Offender
Male Substance Use
Male Violence
Male Aggression
Female Aggression
Female Substance Use
Female Violence
Female Offender
Physical Assault Causes
Physical Assault Offender
Juvenile Female
Juvenile Male
Juvenile Aggression
Binge Drinking
Aggression Causes
Juvenile Offender
Juvenile Violence
Firearms Carrying Causes
Weapons Carrying Causes
Language: en |