TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Volunteering in adolescence and young adulthood crime involvement: a longitudinal analysis from the ADD Health Study
JO  - Injury epidemiology
A1  - Ranapurwala, Shabbar I.
A1  - Casteel, Carri
A1  - Peek-Asa, Corinne L.
SP  - e26
EP  - e26
VL  - 3
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: Experiences in adolescence may have a lasting impact on adulthood. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between adolescent (12-18 years of age) volunteerism with the incidence of illegal behaviors, arrests, and convictions in adulthood (>18 years of age). <br><br>METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using secondary data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Students from grades 7-12 were recruited in 1994-1995 (n = 20,745), and then followed in 2001-2002 (n = 14,322) and in 2008-2009 (n = 12,288). In 2000-2001, participants were retrospectively asked about their volunteering experience from 12 to 18 years of age. Consequently, participants were divided into non-volunteers, self-volunteers, adult-required volunteers, and court-ordered volunteers. Groups were compared for rates of illegal behaviors, arrest, and convictions in adulthood (>18 years of age) using weighted generalized linear mixed negative binomial models while accounting for sampling design. <br><br>RESULTS: Relative to non-volunteers, self-volunteers reported 11 % fewer illegal behaviors (RR: 0.89, 95 % CI: 0.80, 0.99), 31 % fewer arrests (RR: 0.69, 95 %: 0.57, 0.85), and 39 % fewer convictions (RR: 0.61, 95 % CI: 0.47, 0.79) by age 18-28 years, and 28 % fewer illegal behaviors, 53 % fewer arrests, and 36 % fewer convictions by age 24-34. In comparison the adult-required volunteers also reported fewer arrests and convictions; however, they reported more illegal behaviors than the non-volunteers. The court-ordered volunteers reported higher rates of criminal involvement than the non-volunteers, throughout. <br><br>CONCLUSION: This study suggests that volunteering in adolescence may reduce crime involvement in adulthood.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2197-1714
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40621-016-0091-6
ID  - ref1
ER  -