Violent and Delinquent Behavior among Adolescent Students in Puerto Rico

Adolescents' violence and delinquent behaviors are the most dramatic problems that school and communities had to face this decade. More effort and understanding is needed in order to deal with this public health problem. This cross-sectional study, the "Consulta Juvenil VII" survey (2005-07), sought to describe the delinquent behavior patterns in a nationally representative sample of school adolescents in Puerto Rico. The sample (n=13,730) was selected using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling design. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the strength of the association between selected variables and delinquent behavior. Delinquent behavior was defined as reporting at least one of the following eleven violent or delinquent behaviors in the past year: carrying a gun, taking a gun to school, hurting someone so bad it required medical treatment, hitting a teacher, gang membership, selling drugs, stealing from a store, grabbing a purse/jewelry from someone, vandalism, breaking and entering to steal, and having been arrested. Sixteen percent (16.1%) of adolescents reported at least one delinquent behavior in the last year, 41.1% of which reported ≥2 behaviors. Students that reported illicit drug use in the last year had almost seven times higher odds of having a delinquent behavior (OR=6.68,p<0.001) than those with no drug use. Alcohol use was also associated with delinquent behavior (OR=4.73,p<0.001). More males (OR=2.01,p<0.001) and high school students (OR=1.11,p=0.03) reported delinquent behavior than females and middle school students, respectively. Findings from this study would be valuable in conceptualizing approaches for violence prevention in children and adolescents.