Variables associated with physical fighting among US high-school students

Abstract

BackgroundViolence among adolescents is an important public health problem in the United States. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of having been engaged in physical fighting on school property and associated factors of the behavior among school-going adolescents in the United States.MethodsThis study was based on secondary analysis of the United States Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted in 2005. The sampling frame included all private and public school in the country, stratified by region and urbanicity based on the US census bureau data. Frequencies and proportions were obtained for the outcome and explanatory variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the level of association between explanatory variables and the outcome (having been involved in a physical fight).ResultsOf the 13,857 respondents, 13.5% (18.2% for males and 8.8% for females) reported physical fighting onschool property in the last 12 months to the survey. Males were more likely to have been in a physical fight than females (OR = 2.23; 95% CI [1.89, 2.63]). Respondents aged 17 years or older were less likely to report physical fighting than those who were 14 years or younger. Compared to Whites, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Blacks, Native Hawaii or other Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics were more likely to report physical fighting on school property (OR = 2.11; 95% CI [1.22, 3.66], OR = 1.72; 95% CI [1.42, 2.0], OR = 2.18; 95% CI [1.01, 4.79], and OR = 1.74; 95% CI [1.41, 2.16] respectively). Physical fighting on school property was also positively associated with cigarette smoking (OR = 1.70; 95% CI [1.37, 2.10]), drinking alcohol (OR = 1.45; 95% CI [1.20, 1.76]), use of illegal drugs (OR = 1.73; 95% CI [1.42, 2.12]), having had property stolen or deliberately damaged on school property (OR = 2.06; 95% CI [1.74, 2.44]), having been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property (OR = 2.63; 95% CI [2.06, 3.34]), and playing videogame three or more hours a day (OR = 1.29; 95% CI [1.07, 1.56]).ConclusionThese findings suggest that physical fighting among US High School students is widespread and positively associated with victimization (having been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property) and other risky behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drugs use. Intervention programs to prevent/control those risky behaviors as well as further attention on the association between physical fighting and victimization at school through longitudinal research are warranted.

Adolescent Fighting: Racial/Ethnic Disparities and the Importance of Families and Schools

“…Risk factors associated with violence in our full sample, including male gender, alcohol use, and smoking, were consistent with prior research. 5,7,22 Information about marijuana and other illegal drugs was unavailable in CHIS; however, alcohol and smoking are more strongly linked to violence. 2 The stratified analyses showed that different factors were associated with fighting for each racial/ethnic group, and none was significant for all 4 groups.…”

“…These associations were moderate but still robust after controlling for covariates that have been shown to be associated with violence, including smoking, alcohol use, gender, age, history of victimization, depression, family income, and perception of community safety. 5,7,14,22,23 Given theories about the importance of family among Latino teens, 30 it was surprising that the family support scale was not independently associated with fighting among Latinos. This may be because this scale did not adequately measure adolescent feelings of family connectedness, such as closeness to family members, feeling loved by family members, and satisfaction with family relationships.…”

“…5,7,14,22,23 Race/ ethnicity was classified as a categorical variable on the basis of adolescent self-identification with the California Department of Finance's race/ethnicity categories. Participants identifying themselves as Latino and another race/ethnicity were categorized as Latino.…”

Bullying in Italian schools: the role of perceived teacher unfairness

“…gender), school achievement, and psychosocial variables (e.g. empowerment with parents and friends), and other factors that have been found to be predictors of violent behaviour among early adolescents by previous investigations (Aslund et al 2009;Nation et al 2008;Rudatsikira et al 2008).…”

Perfil epidemiológico do atendimento por violência nos serviços públicos de urgência e emergência em capitais brasileiras, Viva 2014

“…International studies with enquiries also estimate high levels of participation in fights with physical aggression in the period of 12 months: 13.5% in the United States, 31.3% in Argentina, 31.1% Venezuela, 42% in Turkey, 40.7% in Chile 18,[42][43][44][45] .…”