The predictive influence of family and neighborhood assets on fighting and weapon carrying from mid- to late adolescence

Gun carrying among US adolescents: the mutual impact of violence experiences, safety concerns, and substance use behaviors

OBJECTIVES

Youth firearm carriage significantly contributes to firearm-related injuries and deaths in the United States (US). This study examined the sex-specific patterns and cumulative effects of violence experiences, safety concerns, and substance use behaviors on youth firearm carriage.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Based on a nationally representative sample (N = 13,526), the multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the interplay of violence experiences (weapon threats, physical fights, and sexual violence), safety concerns, and substance use behaviors (cigarette, electronic vapor, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription opioid), and their direct, indirect, and total effects on youth gun carrying behavior.

RESULTS

About one in 50 females and one in 15 males reported firearm carriage in the past year. Sex-specific patterns existed. Among female adolescents, gun carrying was strongly correlated with violence experiences (standardized coefficient (β) = 0.77, P < 0.001), but no direct connection was observed with substance use behaviors. Among males, both violence experiences (β = 0.56, P < 0.001) and substance use behaviors (β = 0.26, P < 0.001) were significantly correlated with gun carrying. Although safety concerns did not show a direct effect on gun carrying, a significant indirect effect was observed via the pathway of violence experiences. Collectively, the three clusters of predictors explained about 59.9% of variance in gun carrying among females and 54.6% of variance among males.

CONCLUSIONS

Violence experiences have a robust impact on gun carrying behavior in both female and male adolescents. Effective violence prevention programs and sex-specific strategies (e.g., substance use intervention for males) are needed to reduce youth firearm carriage.

Neighborhoods and adolescent polysubstance use in Jamaica

Background

The purpose of this study was to identify latent classes of polysubstance use among adolescents in Jamaica and the role of neighborhood factors in the association with polysubstance use class membership.

Methods

This secondary analysis utilized a national cross-sectional household drug use survey conducted across 357 households in Jamaica (April 2016-July 2016) among a total of 4,625 individuals. A total of 750 adolescents (11-17 years) were included in this analysis. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify polysubstance use patterns as well as latent neighborhood constructs. Neighborhood factors included social disorganization, concentrated disadvantage, community resources, community violence, and police station concentration. Multinomial regression analysis was implemented to evaluate the association between polysubstance use class membership and latent classes of neighborhood factors.

Result

The prevalence of lifetime polysubstance use was 27.56%. Four classes of polysubstance use were identified by comparing a series of five class models. The Bootstrap Likelihood Ratio Test (BLRT) indicated a good fit for the four-class model (<0.001). The prevalence of alcohol latent classes was: (1) heavy alcohol users and experimental smokers (Class I) (15.20%), (2) most hazardous polysubstance users (Class II) (5.33%), (3) heavy smokers and moderate alcohol users (Class III) (7.07%), and (4) experimental alcohol users (Class IV) (72.44%). Three classes of neighborhoods were identified by comparing a series of four-class models. The prevalence of the neighborhood classes was: (1) low social disorganization and disadvantage (Class I) (58.93%), (2) high social disorganization and moderate disadvantage (Class II) (10.93%), and (3) high social disorganization related to perceived drug use and disadvantage (Class III) (30.13%). The BLRT indicated a good fit for the three-class model (p =  < 0.004). Multinomial regression analysis indicated that adolescents living in neighborhoods with high disorder and moderate disadvantage (Class II) were 2.43 times (odds ratio (OR)) = 2.43, confidence interval (CI)) = 1.30-4.56) more likely to be heavy alcohol users and experimental smokers (Class I) compared to experimental alcohol users, adjusting for sex, age, ethnicity, religion, and income. Class II of neighborhood classes presented with the highest levels of community violence (100%), perceived disorder crime (64.6%), police station concentration (6.7%), and community resources (low resources is 87.6%), while the concentrated disadvantage was moderate (14.8%).

Conclusions

Alcohol polysubstance use latent classes were identified among youth in this context. Neighborhoods with high disorder and moderate disadvantage (Class II) were associated with a higher likelihood of polysubstance use. The role of neighborhood conditions in shaping adolescent polysubstance use should be considered in policy, prevention, and treatment interventions.

How Community and Individual Risk Factors Mutually Impact Youth's Perceived Safety: A Syndemic Analysis Using Structural Equation Modeling

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mutual impact of community and individual factors on youth's perceptions of community safety, using structural equation modeling (SEM) conceptualized by syndemic theory. This study used survey data collected from a county wide sample of middle and high school students (N=25,147) in West Central Florida in 2015. The outcome variable was youth's perceptions of community safety. Predictors were latent individual and community factors constructed from 14 observed variables including gun accessibility, substance use, depressive symptoms, and multiple neighborhood disadvantage questions. Three structural equation models were conceptualized based on syndemic theory and analyzed in Mplus 8 using weighted least squares (WLS) estimation. Each model's goodness of fit was assessed. Approximately seven percent of youth reported feeling unsafe in their community. After model modifications, the final model showed a good fit of the data and adhered to the theoretical assumption. In the final SEM model, an individual latent factor was implied by individual predictors measuring gun accessibility without adult's permission (β=0.70), sadness and hopelessness (β=0.52), alcohol use (β=0.79), marijuana use (β=0.94), and illegal drug use (β=0.77). Meanwhile, a community latent factor was indicated by multiple community problems including public drinking (β=0.88), drug addiction (β=0.96), drug selling (β=0.97), lack of money (β=0.83), gang activities (β=0.90), litter and trash (β=0.79), graffiti (β=0.91), deserted houses (β=0.86), and shootings (β=0.93). A second-order syndemic factor that represented the individual and community factors showed a very strong negative association with youth's safe perception (β=-0.98). This study indicates that individual risk factors and disadvantaged community conditions interacted with each other and mutually affected youth's perceptions of community safety. To reduce these co-occurring effects and improve safe perceptions among youth, researchers and practitioners should develop and implement comprehensive strategies targeting both individual and community factors.

A longitudinal study of the protective influence of youth assets on juvenile arrest

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to determine the separate and cumulative influence of individual, family and community assets on juvenile arrest rates in a cohort of youth.

METHODS

Five waves of data were collected from 1111 youth and their parents living in randomly sampled census tracts in a Midwestern state. Computer-assisted, in-person data collection methods were used to measure assets within individual (six assets), family (four assets) and community (six assets) domains. Extended Cox models were used to assess the relationship between the number of assets and time to first juvenile arrest, while controlling for known confounders.

RESULTS

Nine of 16 assets across individual, family and community domains were prospectively associated with a reduction in arrest rates. There was a relationship between the number of assets youth possess within individual, family and community domains and rates of arrest. For example, compared to youth with zero to one community assets, those with three [adjusted hazard ratio (AHR): 0.52; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.30-0.88], four [AHR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.34-0.97] or five to six [AHR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.25-0.82] community assets had lower risk of arrest.

CONCLUSIONS

Public health efforts focused on developing policies and programs to promote asset building across multiple domains of influence are warranted.

The Direct and Indirect Associations between Childhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Adolescent Gun Violence

We examined whether childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with adolescent gun violence and whether early symptoms of conduct disorder and/or exposure to delinquent peers accounted for the linkage. Participants were 503 predominately Black and White boys who were recruited in 1st grade from Pittsburgh public schools. Multi-informant assessments were conducted regularly from approximately ages 7 to 20. A latent socioeconomic disadvantage factor was estimated with census-tract and parent-reported data when boys were about age 7½. Latent growth curve models assessed parent/teacher-reported conduct problems and youth-reported peer delinquency from about ages 7½ to 10. The outcome was youth-reported engagement in gun violence by about age 20. We also controlled for race. Analyses examined whether the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent gun violence was mediated through early conduct problems and/or increased exposure to delinquent peers. Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with adolescent gun violence, and some of this effect was mediated through peer delinquency and conduct problems. Specifically, childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with greater affiliation with delinquent peers in early childhood, and early peer delinquency promoted a greater increase in conduct problems across childhood, and these conduct problems, in turn, led to an increased risk for adolescent gun violence. In summary, this study found that early socioeconomic disadvantage was directly and indirectly related to adolescent gun violence. Results suggest that interventions that aim to reduce conduct problems and deviant peer group affiliation in childhood might be important windows of opportunity for reducing gun violence in impoverished neighborhoods.

Addressing Key Gaps in Existing Longitudinal Research and Establishing a Pathway Forward for Firearm Violence Prevention Research

The main purpose of this article and this special section is to encourage greater attention to the key gaps that exist in our understanding of the epidemiology of adolescent firearm violence and to provide a pathway forward for future longitudinal research that will inform prevention efforts. This increased attention is especially salient given: (a) firearms are the leading cause of death for adolescents and emerging adults in the United States, with the majority of these deaths due to interpersonal violence; (b) significant health and social disparities with regards to the populations that are most affected by interpersonal firearm violence have been documented; and, (c) limitations in federal research funding during the past 30 years have created a deficit of knowledge about key risk and protective factors necessary to inform evidence-based prevention efforts. We discuss the implications of the articles in this special edition for existing and novel prevention programs. We also identify key considerations for future epidemiological research, including the need for a greater focus on collecting longitudinal data among nationally representative samples enriched with subgroups of at-risk youth, the need to examine the role of protective factors and mediating variables within existing and novel theoretical models of firearm risk behaviors, the need to examine key factors across all levels of the socio-ecological model, and the need to incorporate novel and innovative research designs, methods and analyses.

Parental Disengagement in Childhood and Adolescent Male Gun Carrying

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association between parental disengagement in childhood and adolescent gun carrying and determine whether this association is accounted for by externalizing problems and affiliation with delinquent peers during early adolescence.

METHODS

The sample included 503 boys (55.7% African American, 40.6% white, 3.7% other) recruited from first-grade classrooms in Pittsburgh public schools. Multi-informant assessments were conducted regularly (semiannually then annually) from approximately ages 7.5 to 20 years. Latent factors were constructed by using parent-reported parental disengagement (ie, poor parental involvement, poor parent-son communication, poor parent-son relationship quality) collected from ages 7.5 to 10 years, youth-reported peer delinquency from ages 10.5 to 13 years, and teacher-reported externalizing problems from ages 10.5 to 13 years. The outcome was youth-reported gun carrying from ages 14 to 20 years.

RESULTS

Twenty percent of individuals sampled reported carrying a gun during adolescence. Childhood parental disengagement was significantly associated with adolescent gun carrying (β = .22; 95% confidence interval: 0.08 to 0.36). Furthermore, the association between parental disengagement and gun carrying was partially mediated through peer delinquency and externalizing problems during early adolescence. The 2 indirect paths accounted for ∼29% of the total effect of parental disengagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Boys exposed to poorer parental engagement during childhood are more likely to affiliate with delinquent peers and exhibit externalizing problems during early adolescence, which (in turn) increases their risk of carrying a firearm in later adolescence. This suggests that gun violence prevention efforts with children should work to enhance aspects of parental engagement.

Prospective impact of individual, family and community youth assets on adolescent suicide ideation

BACKGROUND

Studies have found that youth assets have a protective influence on many risk behaviours. However, the relationship between youth assets and adolescent suicide ideation is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine if youth assets were prospectively associated with suicide ideation.

METHODS

Four waves of data were collected from 1111 youth and their parents living in randomly sampled census tracts that were stratified by income and race/ethnicity using census data. Computer-assisted, in-person data collection methods were used to measure assets at the individual (6 assets), family (4 assets) and community (6 assets) levels. Generalised linear mixed models were used to prospectively assess the relationship between the number of individual-level, family-level and community-level assets and suicide ideation, while controlling for known confounders.

RESULTS

About half of the sample was female (53%). Participants were racially/ethnically diverse (white (41%), Hispanic (29%) and black (24%)). Eleven of the 16 assets were associated with reduced odds of suicide ideation. In addition, there was a graded relationship between the number of assets at each level (individual, family and community) and the odds of suicide ideation. For example, compared with youth with 0-2 family assets, those with 3 (OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.90) or 4 (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.51) family assets had lower odds of suicide ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

This prospective analysis showed a protective relationship between youth assets and suicide ideation, with the greatest protection among youth with the most assets. Interventions designed to build youth assets may be a useful strategy for reducing adolescent suicide ideation.

Childhood risk factors associated with adolescent gun carrying among Black and White males: An examination of self-protection, social influence, and antisocial propensity explanations

Adolescent gun violence is a serious public health issue that disproportionately affects young Black males. Although it has been postulated that differential exposure to childhood risk factors might account for racial differences in adolescent gun carrying, no longitudinal studies have directly examined this issue. We examined whether childhood risk factors indexing neighborhood crime, peer delinquency, and conduct problems predicted the initiation of adolescent gun carrying among a community sample of Black and White boys. Analyses then examined whether racial differences in risk factors accounted for racial differences in gun carrying. Data came from a sample of 485 Black and White boys who were repeatedly assessed from 2nd grade until age 18. Multi-informant data collected across the first 3 years of the study were used to assess neighborhood crime, peer delinquency, and conduct problems. Illegal gun carrying was assessed annually from 5th grade through age 18. Growth curve analyses indicated that children with higher initial levels of conduct problems and delinquent peer involvement, as well as those who increased in conduct problems across childhood, were more likely to carry a gun prior to age 18. Black boys were also more likely to carry guns than Whites. Racial differences were greatly reduced, but not eliminated, after controlling for initial levels of conduct problems and delinquent peer involvement. Findings suggest that early prevention programs designed to reduce adolescent gun violence (including racial disparities in gun violence) should target boys with severe conduct problems and those who affiliate with delinquent peers during elementary school. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Predictive Influence of Youth Assets on Drinking and Driving Behaviors in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Drinking and driving among adolescents and young adults remains a significant public health burden. Etiological research is needed to inform the development and selection of preventive interventions that might reduce alcohol-involved crashes and their tragic consequences. Youth assets-that is, skills, competencies, relationships, and opportunities-can help youth overcome challenges, successfully transition into adulthood, and reduce problem behavior. We examined the predictive influence of individual, relationship, and community assets on drinking and driving (DD) and riding with a drinking driver (RDD). We assessed prospective relationships through analysis of data from the Youth Assets Study, a community-based longitudinal study of socio-demographically diverse youth. Results from calculation of marginal models using a Generalized Estimating Equation approach revealed that parent and peer relationship and school connectedness assets reduced the likelihood of both drinking and driving and riding with a drinking driver approximately 1 year later. The most important and consistent asset that influenced DD and RDD over time was parental monitoring, highlighting the role of parental influence extending beyond the immediate teen driving context into young adulthood. Parenting-focused interventions could influence factors that place youth at risk for injury from DD to RDD, complementing other evidence-based strategies such as school-based instructional programs and zero tolerance Blood Alcohol Concentration laws for young and inexperienced drivers.

Physical fighting, fighting-related injuries and family affluence among Canadian youth

BACKGROUND

Physical fighting is an assaultive behaviour that can lead to injury. Family affluence is a health determinant that can influence injury. This study examines the relationship between family affluence and two outcomes: physical fighting and fighting-related injury in Canadian adolescents. Three measurements were used to represent family affluence and assess whether these measures demonstrated different associations with these outcomes.

METHODS

Canadian data from the 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study were used. It consists of a nationally representative sample of 26,078 grade 6-10 students. A subset analysis of 10,429 grade 9-10 students was conducted to account for additional confounders. Modified Poisson regression was used to compare the risk of physical fighting and fighting-related injury in youth from different levels of family affluence. Three indicators were used to represent family affluence: self-perceived affluence, a family affluence scale (FAS), and area-level average household income.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence was 35.6% for physical fighting and 2.7% for fighting-related injuries. Both outcomes were more frequent in males than females. An inverse gradient was present where risk for both outcomes increased with decreasing levels of affluence irrespective of the affluence measurement. The self-perceived affluence variable showed a significantly stronger gradient in girls than boys for both outcomes. For both outcomes, FAS showed a similar inverse gradient within females, but a threshold effect in males where there was a strong effect in the low FAS group, but a null effect in the moderate FAS group. The area-level income variable presented a significantly higher likelihood for physical fighting only in females (p = 0.001-0.075). For fighting-related injury, none of the area-level income models showed significant risk estimates with the exception of the bivariate association where low income females were twice as likely to report a fighting-related injury compared to higher income groups (p = 0.030). Post hoc power calculations indicate that there was not sufficient power to detect injury effects associated with the area level income measure.

CONCLUSION

It appears that a socioeconomic gradient exists where lower affluence is associated with a higher risk of reporting a physical fight and fighting-related injury irrespective of the measure used. While the patterns were generally the same with all three measurements, the strength of this gradient varied across measures. This demonstrates that each indicator may measure different aspects of affluence. Further analyses are needed to explore concepts and mechanisms underlying each affluence measure.

CREATE-ing capacity to take developmental crime prevention to scale: A community-based approach within a national framework

Developmental crime prevention is founded on the long-term outcomes and economic efficiency of about 50 promising or model programs for fostering healthy child and youth development and for preventing crime. However, few if any of these programs have been successfully implemented on a large scale, a problem that is the focus of Type 2 (T2) Translation Research within prevention science. This paper describes one approach to building capacity for population-level community-based developmental prevention using the CREATE model that we developed as an outcome of the Pathways to Prevention Project that operated in a disadvantaged region of Brisbane between 2002 and 2011. CREATE is an acronym: Collaborative; Relationships-driven; Early in the pathway; Accountable; Training-focused; Evidence-driven. CREATE is being used to develop, in T2 Translation terms, a prevention support system (PSS) for the Communities for Children (CfC) program, a prevention delivery system that is operated by the Department of Social Services in 52 communities across Australia. The aim is to build the capacity for schools and community agencies to transcend system silos; foster ethical practices and respectful relationships; and deliver goal-directed, quantitatively evaluated, evidence-based resources that address the needs of families with complex needs, promote child wellbeing and prevent antisocial and criminal behaviours. The PSS combines web-based interactive electronic resources for schools and community agencies serving children in CfC communities with systems and processes established by project personnel called Collective Impact Facilitators who build the skills and knowledge of community coalitions to use the electronic resources and implement CREATE effectively. This capacity building exercise is being evaluated through a comprehensive array of pre- and post-measures of coalition functioning. The PSS integrates with national prevention infrastructure developed by DSS, including a Data Exchange System, an Expert Panel, and an Information Exchange.

The influence of assets and environmental factors on gender differences in adolescent drug use

For adolescents, illicit drug use remains a significant public health problem. This study explored prospectively the differential effects of 17 youth assets and 5 environmental factors on drug use in adolescent males and females (Youth Asset Study - a 5-wave longitudinal study of 1117 youth/parent pairs). Baseline analyses included 1093 youth (53% female). Mean age was 14.3 years (SD = 1.6) and the youth were 40% Non-Hispanic White, 28% Hispanic, 24% Non-Hispanic Black, and 9% Non-Hispanic other. Analyses revealed that 16 assets for males and 15 for females as well as the total asset score were prospectively associated with no drug use. No environmental factors were prospectively associated with any drug use for males, and for a subset of females, only Neighborhood Support was significant. This study confirms and extends previous work regarding youth drug use by recognizing the importance of the protective effect of assets for both males and females.