3228.0: Monday, November 13, 2000 - Board 6

Abstract #6301

Fighting behaviors among adolescents

Lynne Edmondson, MAT, Jackson County Health Department, Health Education Ph.D. Student at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, P.O. Box 307, Murphysboro, IL 62966-0307, 618-684-3143 Ext. 132, lynne@maxine.biochem.siu.edu and Maureen Liefer, RN, BS, CHES, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901-4632, 618-282-2072, mmliefer@htc.net.

Healthy People 2000 has identified violent and abusive behavior as a critical factor that affects the health and welfare of Americans of all ages. This behavior is particularly detrimental when America's adolescents are involved because of the scope and extent of the problem. This poster has specifically focused on fighting behaviors among adolescents. It has identified numerous individual and environmental risk factors that play a particularly critical role in influencing an adolescent's involvement in fighting behavior. This poster has also identified several interesting person factors. For example, younger males and Hispanic adolescents had both the highest incidence of physical fighting and the highest percentage of students involved in physical fighting. By identifying risk factors that influence fighting behaviors in adolescents, their relationship with each other, and target populations that are at greater risk, prevention and intervention strategies may be instituted. These strategies may provide additional protective factors that promote a more positive influence on the adolescent. This poster also provides recommendations for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention/intervention strategies, designed to specifically target adolescents, their families, their schools, and their communities.

Keywords: Adolescents, Violence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA