Risk factors for multiple forms of violent experiences: Analyses of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

There is a growing body of empirical research indicating a significant co-occurrence of multiple forms of experiences with violence among US youth. However, very little information is available about shared risk factors across forms of violence. Current analyses were based on cross-sectional data from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The YRBS includes a nationally representative sample (n = 16,410) of high-school students in 9–12th grades in the US. Multinomial regression analyses were conducted to test the associations between risk factors and reports of multiple violence exposures (i.e. physical fights, dating violence, forced sex, and being bullied at school). Among high-school students, 33.0% reported one experience, 11.4% reported two experiences, and 4.0% reported 3–4 experiences with violence. Multinomial regression analyses indicate that experience with 3–4 forms of violence were highly associated with sadness, feeling too unsafe to go to school, early alcohol use, binge drinking, drug use, weapon carrying, asthma, low academic grades, and suicide attempts relative to those who did not report any experience with violence. These findings underscore that multiple experiences with violence are relatively common among US high-school students. Moreover, multiple experiences with violence are associated with a relatively broad range of risk factors. Youth who report multiple experiences with violence seem to be particularly vulnerable and in need of assistance, in particular because of the strong association between multiple violent experiences and suicidal behaviors.     

SNAP and Cardiometabolic Risk in Youth

Increasing numbers of children and adolescents have unhealthy cardiometabolic risk factors and show signs of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). Low-income populations tend to have higher levels of risk factors associated with MetS. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has the potential to reduce poverty and food insecurity, but little is known about how the program affects MetS. We examine the relationship between SNAP and the cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents using regression discontinuity to control for unobserved differences between participants and nonparticipants. We find that SNAP-eligible youth who experience food insecurity have significantly healthier outcomes compared to food-insecure youth just over the income-eligibility threshold. Our findings suggest that SNAP may be most beneficial to the most disadvantaged households. Policy makers should consider the broad range of potential health benefits of SNAP.     

Reductions in HIV Risk Among Runaway Youth

Runaway youth are 6–12 times more likely to become infected with HIV than other youth. Using a quasi-experimental design, the efficacy of an HIV prevention program was evaluated over 2 years among 2 groups of runaways: (1) those at 2 shelters who received Street Smart, an intensive HIV intervention program, and (2) youth at 2 control shelters. Street Smart provided youth with access to health care and condoms and delivered a 10-session skill-focused prevention program based on social learning theory to youth. Prior to analysis of the intervention's outcomes, propensity scores were used to identify comparable subgroups of youth in the intervention (n = 101) and control conditions (n = 86). Compared to females in the control condition, females in the intervention condition significantly reduced their unprotected sexual acts at 2 years and alcohol use, marijuana use, and the number of drugs used over 12 months. Male adolescents in the intervention condition showed significant reductions in marijuana use over 6 months compared to control youth. Adolescent HIV prevention programs must proactively identify mechanisms for maintaining behavior change over the long-term, and innovative research designs are needed to allow examination of agency-level interventions.     

The Clustering of Risk Behaviors Among Caribbean Youth

Objective: To examine the relationships among risk behaviors for Caribbean youth; and to determine the correlations between initiation of sexual activity and other risk behaviors. Methods: The associations between cigarette smoking, alcohol and marijuana use, early initiation of sexual intercourse, involvement in violence and delinquency were examined using odds ratios on data from the Caribbean Youth Health Survey (n = 15,695). Survival analysis was then used to determine the association between initiation of sexual activity and the risk behaviors. Findings: There were statistically significant relationships between all pairs of risk behaviors for both male and female adolescents. Even though more males than females had engaged in each of the behaviors, the strengths of association were higher for females. From survival analysis, initiation of sexual activity was associated with gang involvement and weapon carrying among young adolescents and even more risk behaviors among the older adolescents. Conclusion: Health compromising behaviors cluster among Caribbean youth with associations being stronger for females. Initiating sexual activity was a predictor of other risk behaviors with the likelihood increasing among older adolescents and females.     

青少年自杀风险的社会心理因素研究现状

近年来,青少年的自杀率持续上升,并且表现出明显的低龄化趋势,青少年自杀已成为一个世界性的公共卫生问题.从社会心理的角度对青少年自杀现象进行了回顾和总结,为预防控制青少年自杀提供参考依据.