Interpersonal violence among adolescents in military families: Results from a representative sample of high school students

background:The impact of family military involvement on adolescent mental health is well-established, but less is known about other behavioral health outcomes such as interpersonal violence.

methods:Using data from the 2013 Nevada Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), we assessed the relationship between family military involvement and measures of interpersonal violence among high school students (n=3928). Weighted logistic regression models were developed to determine whether youth with family military involvement were more likely to report fighting, fighting on school property and being in a physical fight that resulted in injury, after controlling for demographic characteristics and other covariates.  All analyses were conducted using SAS 9.3.

results: Overall 13.5% of high school youth in Nevada had family military involvement.  After controlling for race, gender, grade, location, substance use, and bullying, family military involvement was associated with an increased odds of involvement in physical fighting, (AOR=1.69; 95% CI= 1.26, 2.27), physical fighting on school property (AOR= 2.00; 95% CI=1.17, 3.42), and having been injured in a physical fight in the previous 12 months (AOR=2.33; 95% CI=1.24, 4.37).  Other factors associated with all interpersonal violence outcomes included Black race, bullying, and marijuana use.

conclusions: Our results suggest that adolescents from military families are at increased risk for fighting. School and community-based interventions aimed at addressing interpersonal violence among adolescents should be tailored to fit the needs of youth with family military involvement.