The Impact of Risk Behaviors on Violence among High School Students

Abstract

Current research suggests that the knowledge of the associations between adolescent risk behaviour and delinquent behaviours such as fighting at school or violence among peers is conceptually and empirically inadequate to substantially provide a base of assessment of adolescent health and risk. The aim of this paper is to contribute towards the knowledge and findings about the relationships between adolescent risk behaviours and violent behaviours among adolescents in an educational setting. From a developmental perspective, links between such behaviors in adolescence are discussed and investigated in light of a psychosocial stress model. This report summarizes results from Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), the 2011 national survey, conducted among students aged 12-18 in grades 9–12. A total of 15,364 students completed the national survey in 2011 where (N = 7656, 49.6%) were male and (N = 7708, 50%) were female students. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the odds of fighting at school are increasingly greater as children’s frequency of carrying weapon at school (? = 1.77, SE =.08), playing videogame and watching TV scores separately increase among different races. When all four predictor variables were considered together, they significantly predicted whether or not a student would fight at school, (?2 = 478.67, df = 5, N= 14059, p < .001). Finally, conclusions for future research, behavioral interventions and educational policies on adolescent health are provided.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n2p257