Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116137

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:

• Identify developmental assets that act as protective factors for violent perpetration among urban girls.
• Articulate how the effect of protective factors on violence differs for girls who have been victimized than for those who have not been victimized.
• Describe the effects of protective factors on girls living in different types of neighborhoods.

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.