Predictors of Weapon-Related Behaviors among African American, Latino, and White Youth
OBJECTIVE:
To
identify risk and protective factors for weapon involvement among African
American, Latino, and white adolescents.
STUDY DESIGN:
The
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health is a nationally
representative survey of 7th-12th grade students. Predictors at wave 1 and
outcome at wave 2 were analyzed. Data were collected in the mid-1990s, when
rates of violent crime had been declining. The outcome was a dichotomous
measure of weapon-involvement in the past year, created using 3 items
(weapon-carrying, pulled gun/knife, shot/stabbed someone). Bivariate and
multilevel logistic regression analyses examined associations of individual,
peer, family, and community characteristics with weapon involvement; stratified
analyses were conducted with African American, Latino, and white subsamples.
RESULTS:
Emotional
distress and substance use were risk factors for all groups. Violence exposure
and peer delinquency were risk factors for whites and African Americans. Gun
availability in the home was associated with weapon involvement for African
Americans only. High educational aspirations were protective for African
Americans and Latinos, but higher family connectedness was protective for
Latinos only.
CONCLUSIONS:
Interventions
to prevent weapon-related behaviors among African American, Latino, and white
adolescents may benefit from addressing emotional distress and substance use.
Risk and protective factors vary by race/ethnicity after adjusting for
individual, peer, family, and community characteristics. Addressing violence
exposure, minimizing the influence of delinquent peers, promoting educational
aspirations, and enhancing family connectedness could guide tailoring of
violence prevention interventions.
- 1Department of Pediatrics, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-University of California (https://www.labiomed.org/), Los Angeles Medical Center, Torrance, CA.
- 2School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX.
- 3Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
- 4Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD.
- J Pediatr. 2016 Jan 5. pii: S0022-3476(15)01518-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.12.008.
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