Citation

Boyas JF, Kim YJ, Sharpe TL, Moore DJ, Prince-Stehley K. Child Youth Serv. 2016; 38(1): 24-52.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/0145935X.2016.1204537

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This cross-sectional study used an ecological framework to understand the risk and protective factors associated with use of violence among African American adolescents ages 12-17 (N = 2,328). Using data from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, our study identified different direct paths in predicting use of violence among African American adolescents. We then computed a multi-group analysis to determine if significant gender differences exist in use of violence. Path analysis results suggest micro, meso, and macro factors significantly predicted violence use. The strongest predictor of use of violence among African American youth was parental conflicts. The multi-group analysis suggests that the pathways to use of violence significantly differ between African American males and females. For African American males, the strongest predictor of increased violence was parental conflicts, whereas, the strongest predictor of increased use of violence among African American females was negative peer influence. Our findings suggest that all three ecological domains and gender differences should be accounted for when developing prevention or intervention services that target use of violence among African American young people.

Language: en