Risk Factors for Adolescent Violence

Abstract

Violence as a function of vulnerability and delinquency was examined in a sample of 2066 ninth-graders. Vulnerability was examined by several proxy measures (being hit, attacked, or touched inappropriately at school; being exposed to weapons at school; the absence of the father from the home; and mother's educational attainment). Violence was a composite measure of the frequency of hitting a student, hitting or shoving a teacher, carrying a weapon at school, group fighting, and armed robbery. Vulnerability indicators explained 48% of the variance in violence in the first step of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Delinquency measures (crime involvement, punishment at school, and drug involvement) and attitudes toward school increased the explained variance to 74%. Vulnerability is posited as a potential central mechanism for the development of violent behavior. Prospective study of this mechanism is recommended.

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