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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
3113.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - 11:21 AM

Abstract #116137

Family, peer & neighborhood assets: Effects on perpetration of violence among urban girls

Beth E. Molnar, ScD, Magdalena Cerda, MPH, Andrea L. Roberts, PhD, and Stephen L. Buka, ScD. Dept. of Society, Human Development & Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Sixth Floor, Boston, MA 02115, (617)432-2433, bmolnar@hsph.harvard.edu

Background. Girls' violence continues to be a significant public health problem, with 25% of a representative sample of U.S. schoolgirls in grades 9-12 reporting past year fighting in 2003 (Grunbaum, 2004). Recent interest has shifted from primarily studying risk factors to studying developmental assets as protective factors against perpetration. Few longitudinal studies of protective factors for violent perpetration exist, especially studies focused on girls. Methods. Data are from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a multi-level, prospective study of a multi-ethnic, urban sample. Three waves of data from 832 girls (ages 9-15 years at baseline) and data from assessments of their neighborhoods are being analyzed to show the effects of prior developmental assets as protective against subsequent violent perpetration, controlling for prior perpetration and other relevant covariates. Results. Preliminary analyses reveal the relationship between violent perpetration and potential developmental assets is complex, with some, but not all hypothesized assets being associated with lower rates of violence. Assets being tested include (among others) extracurricular activities, parental monitoring, pro-social peers, and neighborhood collective efficacy, controlling for risk factors such as prior victimization and neighborhood disadvantage. We will continue to analyze these data using a multivariate, hierarchical framework. Conclusions. This study will provide needed longitudinal evidence for the identification of specific developmental assets important for the reduction of risk for violent perpetration among urban girls. The study will also stimulate new thinking about multi-level interventions aimed at promoting protective factors to reduce girls' involvement in violence.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Youth Violence, Community Assets

Related Web page: www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/prevention.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

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The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA