Prevalence of Youth Violence among Asian and Pacific Islander Youth: National Data from 1999 to 2007

Background: Youth violence is a major public health concern, with grave consequences in our schools and communities. Youth of ethnic minorities have a greater likelihood of being victimized or perpetrating violence. For decades, Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations have been known as the “model minority,” especially with respect to delinquent behavior and academic achievement. Purpose: This study demonstrates the importance of data disaggregation by ethnicity to examine true changes, as well as make comparisons among groups. Using CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data, prevalence of youth violence by sex and ethnic groups were examined. Methods: Data from 1999 to 2007 YRBSS were analyzed. In order to determine the factor structure for the 9 violence items, a cross-validation approach was used. The total sample size for all years was 72,122 adolescents (938 and 268 surveys were missing ethnicity and sex, respectively). Results: An exploratory factor analysis indicated a three-factor solution (Factor 1: weapon use; Factor 2: victimization; Factor 3: physical fighting). Overall, males reported higher rates for all three factors. With respect to ethnicity, Asians and Caucasians showed consistently lower rates compared to all other groups, including for the Pacific Islander adolescents. Discussion/Conclusions: Findings confirm the importance of disaggregating the normally collapsed “Asian/Pacific Islander” ethnicity category, especially when considering Hawai‘i's multiculturalism and the increasing diversity of the U.S. population in general. Disaggregation of responses by ethnicity and gender has the potential to better inform program design and implementation, as well as policy making in youth violence prevention nationwide.