256249 Evaluation of a School-Based Violence Prevention Program among Middle School Students in Southeast Los Angeles

Monday, October 29, 2012

Myriam Forster, MPH , Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Lawrence Chu, PhD, MPH, MS , Public Health Program, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA
Background: Violence and aggressive behaviors among youth have become serious public health issues in California and across the nation. Findings from the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey estimate that approximately 1 in 3 high school youth had been involved in a physical fight during the past year and 1 in 6 reported carrying a weapon to school in the previous month. Methods: We implemented a quasi-experimental study design to evaluate a series of violence prevention workshops among middle school students to evaluate changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards violence and identify factors that would best predict future violent behavior. Results: The student population consisted of 341 students in three Southern California middle schools with predominantly minority students. Students participating in the intervention programs had statistically significant gains in knowledge (p<0.001) and attitudes (p<0.001) toward causes of violence and violence trends. Behavior change was not significantly different between participants and non-participants during the study period. Conclusions: Overall the program was effective in disseminating knowledge about the causes and consequences of violence and stabilizing or decreasing positive endorsements of gangs to at-risk youth. This prevention program continues to collect longitudinal data to evaluate long-term behavioral impact and to better understand factors leading to violent behavior among youth.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the trend in violent and aggresive behavior among youth in the United States. Identify risk factors that may predict violent behavior among adolescents. Discuss the benefits and pitfalls of conducting research in school environments.

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Health Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal researcher for this study as the work went towards my thesis for the MPH degree.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.