Correlates of Male Adolescents Carrying Handguns Among Their Peers

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 were used to examine factors associated with carrying a handgun among adolescent males. We expected that carrying a handgun would be associated with characteristics of the individual and with aspects of the contexts that are important for adolescents, such as the family, the peer group, the school setting, and the neighborhood. Consistent with these expectations, we found that adolescent males were more likely than their peers to carry handguns if they engaged in other problematic behaviors, had witnessed someone else being shot or shot at, and were involved in gangs. Boys under the age of 15 were less likely to carry a handgun if they were closely monitored by their mothers and respected their mothers, and they were more likely to carry a handgun if they frequently heard gunshots in their neighborhood or had a relative or friend who was a gang member. Males who were 15 and older were more likely to carry a handgun if they associated with peers who engaged in problematic behaviors.     

Who runs away from home and why? How families,schools, and bullying influence youth runaways

While prior research establishes that youth who experience family problems are more likely to leave home before reaching adulthood, we know less regarding how peer victimization in the form of bullying may influence youths' likelihood of becoming runaways. Youth often run away from home to escape family conflict or abusive home environments. Mental illness, behavioral problems, and delinquent peers are also powerful forces predicting the likelihood of running away from home. Additionally, recent literature suggests that negative experiences at school may increase youths' decisions to leave home prematurely. In this article, I review literature that addresses who runs away from home, including variations by age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, family structure, mental health, problem behaviors, and peer networks. I also suggest directions for future research, including an approach that considers how families and schools individually and collectively affect youths' likelihood of running away from home. Finally, I recommend a focus on bully victimization to better understand how victimization outside of the family affects the likelihood that youth will become runaways.     

Putting youth violent victimization into context: sex, race/ethnicity, and community differences among a multisite sample of youths

The increased risk of violent victimization for adolescents relative to other age groups has recently become a major public health concern. The current study uses data from a multisite study of eighth grade youths attending public schools in 11 cities to determine the extent and nature of youth general and serious violent victimization among both sexes and five racial/ethnic groups in 11 diverse communities. This study explores differences in sex, race/ethnicity, and community independently and explores interactions between sex and community and race/ethnicity and community. Our findings suggest important differences in victimization prevalence and individual victimization rates by sex and community of residence. Racial differences were found to be closely tied to community. Policy implications resulting from our findings are discussed.     

The impact of the social context on externalizing risks – Implications for the delivery of programs to vulnerable youth

This paper draws on data from a longitudinal study of over 500 vulnerable adolescents to examine the extent to which levels of individual externalizing risk behaviors (risky or unsafe behaviors) changed over time, as well as which fixed and time-dynamic factors predicted changes in these risk levels over time. Over time absolute levels of risky behaviors decreased but remained above normative levels. Of all the predictors, being excluded from school and associating with an anti-social peer group were the strongest and most consistent predictors of these behaviors. Other factors predicted changes in one or more of the three risk measures used, suggesting that each risk factor may reflect challenges youth face in different domains of their lives. Implications of these findings for service delivery are discussed.     

Examining the impact of gender, race/ethnicity, and family factors on mental health issues in a sample of court-involved youth

Faced with anywhere between one half and two thirds of its youth having a diagnosable mental illness, the identification and treatment of mental health concerns is a critically important endeavor for professionals working with youth who have contact with the juvenile justice system. In addition, the literature suggests that factors related to both the family and to the gender of the adolescent must be incorporated into any approach to assessment and intervention within this special population. Further, prior work that has documented the interaction of gender and family issues with adolescent race/ethnicity warrants further empirical attention, as does the intermediary role that the family may play in the development of both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The present study extends this literature by examining factors related to gender, race/ethnicity, family factors, and mental health issues in a sample of 2,549 Caucasian and African American youth coming to the attention of juvenile courts. Multivariate analysis of variance results indicated significant main effects for gender and race/ethnicity, as well as a significant gender x race/ethnicity interaction for the family and externalizing variables. A multiple group structural equation modeling procedure was employed in order to test the hypothesis that family environment mediates the relationship between gender and mental health problems, as well as to test for potential differences in these relationships as a function of race/ethnicity. Results indicated support for the mediation model in the sample of African American youth but not in the sample of Caucasian youth.     

Top–Down Eco-Systems of Social Bonding on Juvenile Violent Behavior: Gender Sensitive Analysis

The aim of this study is to test a multifaceted model across gender, consisting of bonding systems in relation to violent behaviors of youth and explaining the relationships among them. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2006 was the source of data. This paper reports findings of a study examining gender-sensitive models with adolescent violent behavior, by testing multiple bonding systems in the adolescents’ environment simultaneously with use of (1) bi-variate statistical test, (2) t test, and (3) estimation of the structural equation modeling among all the concepts of violent behavior and bonding systems for the whole juvenile sample and separated sample of male and female juveniles. Both peer bonding and school bonding have an effect in decreasing violent behavior of both male and female youth. However, some different bonding systems were found to be effective only for a certain gender, community bonding for male youths and parental bonding for female youths. The satisfactory model fit was confirmed with whole, male-only, and female-only samples, along with new findings of several male-only and one female-only significant causal linkage among bonding systems.     

Examining the Interaction of Daily Hassles Across Ecological Domains on Substance Use and Delinquency Among Low-Income Adolescents of Color

The increased risk for substance use and delinquency among adolescents of color has been partially attributed to increased exposure to daily hassles. Although a certain number of hassles are normative, especially among family and peers, adolescents of color experience more stressors in their neighborhood or directly related to fewer resources than their White counterparts. These hassles may interact across ecological systems to impact behavioral outcomes among adolescents. This may be especially true for young people living in public housing. Based on ecological systems theory, this study tests the relationship between experiences of hassles across multiple ecological levels and problem behaviors in a sample of 315 ethnically diverse early adolescents (M_age = 12; 51% female) living in public housing neighborhoods in two large metropolitan areas in the United States. A positive relationship was found between family hassles and both substance use and delinquency, as well as between school hassles and substance use. When the interactions between family, peer, school, and neighborhood/resource hassles were considered, five statistically significant interactions were found. The study results reinforce the role of contextual factors, such as living in low-income neighborhoods and the complexity of hassles interacting at multiple levels of a young person’s daily ecology, on adolescent outcomes.     

Social Capital and Adolescent Substance Use: The Role of Family,School, and Neighborhood Contexts

This study assesses the link between social capital factors of norm‐setting social arenas including family, school, and neighborhood and adolescent substance use measured by cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and illicit drug use among a sample of adolescents in California. The key messages of this study are that socialization processes at different life domains, in varying degrees, are associated with adolescent substance use behavior. Compared with school and neighborhood contexts, family is the most influential setting that should be primarily targeted for youth substance use prevention. Among different aspects of within‐family social resources, parental monitoring seems to be the most protective of adolescent substance use. Study implications on family‐based interventions are discussed.     

Ethnicity or race,area characteristics,and sexual partner choice among American adolescents

The aim of this paper is to examine the association of individual demographic variables and area characteristics with the characteristics of sexual partners of American adolescents. Data for the study were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The data indicate that the community characteristics of ethnic or racial composition of the population and region were most strongly related to the ethnicity or race of the partner. Regional differences in the ethnicity or race of partners were significant even after controlling for the ethnic or racial composition of the community. Differences in partner's age, grade, neighborhood, and school or residence were not related to school and community characteristics. In addition, the individual characteristics of age, gender, and race or ethnicity were also related to ethnicity or race of partner.     

The Social Ecology of Race and Ethnicity School Achievement Gaps: Economic,Neighborhood, School,and Family Factors

This study used a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students to examine the degree to which economic, neighborhood, school, and family factors contributed to three points on a proposed school outcome continuum: (1)avoidance of problem behavior, (2)sense of school coherence, and (3)grades. Multilevel models were employed to account for the clustering of students inside schools. Results suggested that though family and neighborhood social factors contribute to variance in school outcomes, family and neighborhood economic factors revealed the largest potential to explain and therefore present leverage points to reduce race and ethnicity achievement gaps.     

Ethnicity or race,area characteristics,and sexual partner choice among American adolescents

The aim of this paper is to examine the association of individual demographic variables and area characteristics with the characteristics of sexual partners of American adolescents. Data for the study were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The data indicate that the community characteristics of ethnic or racial composition of the population and region were most strongly related to the ethnicity or race of the partner. Regional differences in the ethnicity or race of partners were significant even after controlling for the ethnic or racial composition of the community. Differences in partner s age, grade, neighborhood, and school or residence were not related to school and community characteristics. In addition, the individual characteristics of age, gender, and race or ethnicity were also related to ethnicity or race of partner.     

Establishing Independence in Low‐Income Urban Areas: The Relationship to Adolescent Aggressive Behavior

Although adolescents in poor urban areas often assume independent, adult‐like roles, relatively little is known about the relationship between these roles and other adolescent behaviors. This research examines the association between independent roles occurring within different contexts (e.g. family, peer, work) and aggressive behavior among 516 low‐income, urban middle school students. Overall, adolescent employment is related to increases in aggressive behavior. However, associations that familial and peer independent roles have with aggression differ by the extent of youth involvement in paid work. Greater engagement in familial independent roles is associated with decreased aggression among employed adolescents, but with increased aggression among unemployed youth. Also, peer independent roles are related to significantly greater increases in aggression among unemployed, compared with employed, adolescents.     

Health Risk Behaviors among Adolescents in the Rural South: A Comparison of Race,Gender, and Age

Risky behaviors contribute to many of the physical and mental health problems of today's adolescents. The present study surveyed more than 2,500 high school and middle school students in a rural county in southwest Georgia in an attempt to identify differences in health risk behaviors, including tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, violence and gang-related behaviors, and student assessment of high-risk behaviors, based on three demographic characteristics: race, gender, and age. Results show that Caucasian students are more likely to use tobacco and alcohol, whereas African-American students are more likely to engage in violent activities. In addition, older students (aged 15+ years) were more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and to participate in violent behaviors, and male students are more likely to use tobacco and drugs and to participate in violent behaviors than female students.     

Risk Factors of Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Adolescents

Abstract

Many researchers of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents describe them as an “invisible” minority. These youth are also one of the most “at risk” youth populations, as they often experience a range of problems related to society's stigmatization of same-sex orientation. Although sexual orientation is not necessarily related to heightened difficulties, lack of social support, infrequent positive interactions, and chronic stress may lead to increased problem behaviors for these youth. To further understand the risk and protective factors experienced by sexual minority adolescents, this article explores a number of these factors and reviews the current empirical research on specific topics, including: family, peer and school, substance use, suicide, and HIV/AIDS issues. Finally, practice implications are discussed to guide clinicians in working more effectively with this youth population.     

Neighborhood Contexts, Fathers, and Mexican American Young Adolescents' Internalizing Symptoms

The family stress model posits that contextual stressors, such as neighborhood danger, negatively influence youth adjustment, including internalizing symptoms, via disruptions in parenting and family processes. The current study examined a culturally and contextually modified family stress model in a diverse sample of Mexican origin fathers and their children (N = 463) from the Southwestern U.S. Results supported the hypothesized negative influence of neighborhood danger on youth internalizing symptoms via disruptions in family cohesion. Paternal warmth did not play a role in linking contextual stress to outcomes. The role of harsh parenting was highly nuanced. Results suggest that both culture and context have the potential to moderate putative family stress model associations for specific parenting behaviors and further our understanding of the ways that culture and context may operate in models of family stress and youth outcomes.     

Generational Peers and Alcohol Misuse

This study investigates the influence of generational peers on alcohol misuse among immigrant youth. We derive hypotheses from sociological theories of generations regarding race/ethnicity, gender, and immigrant generation and test these hypotheses using a measure that accounts for the proportion of peers within a given peer network that are of the same immigrant generation. Results show that generational ties decreased the odds of alcohol misuse for immigrants and that these effects depend partly on race/ethnicity and gender. We conclude that generational ties play a meaningful role in the health and well‐being of immigrant youth, and discuss possible future avenues for research on immigrant generational peers.     

Transactional Process of African American Adolescents’ Family Conflict and Violent Behavior

This is the first longitudinal study of urban African American adolescents that has examined bidirectional effects between their family conflict and violent behavior across all of high school. Structured interviews were administered to 681 students each year in high school at ages 15, 16, 17, and 18 years. We used structural equation modeling to test a transactional model and found bidirectional effects between family conflict and violent behavior across the middle years of high school, while accounting for sex and socioeconomic status. Findings suggest a reciprocal process involving interpersonal conflict in African American families and adolescent engagement in youth violence.     

Adolescent Problem Behavior in Toronto,Canada

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative association of unique aspects of social capital at the level of families, schools, and neighborhoods on adolescent self‐reported violence, property crimes, and substance use. Data come from the 2006 Canadian International Youth Survey that asked adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 in the metropolitan city of Toronto (N = 3, 101) about their problem behavior. Poisson regression models revealed that parental monitoring, school performance, peer approval of illegal activities, and neighborhood social disorder were consistently associated with all three adolescent problem behaviors, net of controls. Results were more mixed for remaining measures of social capital on adolescent problem behavior. Interestingly, neighborhood cohesion was a significant predictor of adolescent substance use, but operated in a direction that was contrary to the proposed hypotheses. These findings highlight the importance of teasing out how different facets of social capital in different environments are linked to adolescent problem behavior.     

The Relation Between Peer Victimization and Adolescents' Well‐Being: The Moderating Role of Ethnicity Within Context

This study examined the moderating effects of individual ethnicity and school ethnic composition on the relation between peer victimization and adolescents' well‐being. Participants were 4,593 sixth grade students attending 36 schools categorized as ethnically diverse or predominantly African American, European American, or Latino American. Multilevel models revealed relations between participants' ethnicity and their reported frequency of overt but not relational victimization. Findings did not support the hypothesis that adolescents in the minority group in their school would be more frequently victimized than adolescents in the majority group. Furthermore, contrary to hypothesis, the relation between the reported frequency of victimization and well‐being did not vary as a function of the interaction between adolescents' ethnicity and their schools' ethnic composition.