Violence risk and protective factors among youth held back in school

Citation

Borowsky, I. W.; Ireland, M.; & Resnick, M. D. (2002). Violence risk and protective factors among youth held back in school. Ambul Pediatr. vol. 2 (6) pp. 475-484

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk and protective factors for violence perpetration among youth with a history of grade retention. DESIGN: Longitudinal analysis of in-home interviews of 13,781 adolescents in grades 7 through 12 conducted in 1995 and 1996. METHODS AND MEASURES: Serious interpersonal violence perpetration at time 2 by time 1 independent variables including measures of community and school context, family context, and individual characteristics. RESULTS: The 20% of girls and 28% of boys who had repeated 1 or more grades were more likely than those who had not to be in the top quintile of violence perpetration at time 2 (P <.001). For both girls and boys with a history of grade repetition, predictive risk factors with an odds ratio of 3 or greater (P <.001) included time 1 violence perpetration, violence victimization, weapon carrying, school problems, and alcohol and marijuana use. Although a high grade point average was a significant protective factor against violence perpetration for both girls (odds ratio, 0.36; P <.05) and boys (odds ratio, 0.23; P <.001), performance on a validated measure of verbal knowledge was not associated with violence perpetration over the study period. School connectedness, parent-family connectedness, and emotional well-being were also significant universal protectors against violence perpetration. CONCLUSIONS: Youth who are held back in school are at heightened risk for violence perpetration. Violence-related behaviors and substance use considerably increase the likelihood of this outcome. The findings suggest that schools can participate in violence prevention by providing youth with a positive community and academic experience.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1367/1539-4409(2002)002<0475:VRAPFA>2.0.CO;2

Keyword(s)

Adolescent

Notes

Borowsky, Iris Wagman

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Ambul Pediatr

Author(s)

Borowsky, I. W.
Ireland, M.
Resnick, M. D.

Year Published

2002

Volume Number

2

Issue Number

6

Pages

475-484

Edition

2002/11/20

ISSN/ISBN

1530-1567 (Print)

DOI

10.1367/1539-4409(2002)002<0475:VRAPFA>2.0.CO;2

Reference ID

1795