Risk and Direct Protective Factors for Youth Violence: Results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Multisite Violence Prevention Project

• NCJ Number: 244505
• Journal: American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume: 43 Issue: 2, Supplement 1 Dated: August 2012 Pages: S67-S75
• Author(s): David B. Henry Ph.D.; Patrick H. Tolan Ph.D.; Deborah Gorman-Smith Ph.D.; Michael E. Schoeny Ph.D.
• Date Published: August 2012
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined which risk and direct protective factors were predictors of youth violence.

Abstract

Using data obtained from multiple studies, this study examined which risk and direct protective factors were predictors of youth violence. The study found that across genders and ethnic groups, higher teacher-rated study skills were associated with lower levels of subsequent violence. For youth who reported their ethnicity as White or other, affiliation with deviant peers significantly increased their levels of subsequent violence. Affiliation with deviant peers had no effect on Latino youth and only marginally increased subsequent levels of violence for African-American youth. The primary aim of this study was to examine whether risk and direct protective factors could predict subsequent levels of youth violence across multiple studies. Data for the study were obtained from 4,432 middle-school students who participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Multisite Violence Prevention Project (MVPP). The MVPP uses school-level random assignment "to compare the individual and combined effects of universal and selective interventions on violence and associated variables among middle-school youth." Numerous risk and direct protective factors were evaluated while participants were in the sixth grade to determine whether any of these factors were later predictors of violence when participants reached seventh and eighth grades. The factors examined included individual factors such as attention problems, depression, and alcohol/drug use; family involvement; school factors such as study skills, attitude toward school, and truancy; and peer delinquency. The schools in the study came from four communities: Chicago, IL; Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; and Northeast Georgia. The findings indicate that certain factors should be considered in the development of effective violence prevention programs. In addition, ethnic differences should be taken into account when these programs are developed. Implications for policy and future research are discussed. Tables, references, and appendix