Additive Interactions Between School Bullying Victimization and Gender on Weapon Carrying Among U.S. High School Students: Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2009 to 2015.

In recent years, the United States has seen an increase in gun-related violence and school shootings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the incidence of gun carrying among high-school students has declined. Nevertheless, an examination of the underlying factors that increase the risk of violence-related behaviors is necessary to develop interventions to decrease gun use among high-school students. General Strain Theory (GST) predicts that victims of violence are (a) significantly more likely to engage in violent behaviors and (b) the increased risk of violent behavior by persons who experience violence is significantly greater among male victims. This research aims to test these predictions of the strain theory with data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). To that end, it investigates whether the relationship between forced sexual intercourse victimization (FSIV) and gun or weapon carrying or physical fighting is significantly greater among male students. Using R and pooled data from the nationally representative YRBS (2017 and 2019), additive interactions were estimated according to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines to determine the association between FSIV and weapon carry, gun carry, or physical fighting. Multiplicative interactions and odds ratios were also estimated for comparison. Results show a high risk of gun and weapon carrying and physical fighting among both male and female students who experience FSIV and a significant relationship between FSIV and increased risk of these violence-related behaviors. Additive interactions show that the relationship between FSIV and these violent behaviors is significantly greater among male students than female students. Results confirm the predictions of GST and show that FSIV significantly increases the risk of gun carrying and other violence-related behaviors among male and female U.S. high-school students; the increased risk is significantly greater among male students.

This research used four consecutive waves of data from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to estimate linear time trends by gender in the prevalence of school and electronic bullying victimization among U.S. high school students (N = 61,042). Dependent variables were student self-reported school bullying victimization and electronic bullying victimization during the previous 12 months. Independent variables used to estimate multiple logistic regression models by gender were survey year, race/ethnicity, and grade level. Results showed the prevalence of school bullying increased significantly among females from 2009 (21.2%) to 2015 (24.8%), linear trend OR = 1.08 [1.04, 1.12]; and decreased significantly among males from 2009 (18.7%) to 2015 (15.8%), linear trend OR = 0.93 [0.89, 0.98]. Prevalence of electronic bullying was unchanged between 2011 to 2015 among both male and female students. Asian race, relative to White race, was associated with significantly lower rates of both school and electronic bullying victimization among females, but not males. The incidence of school and electronic bullying victimization was significantly lower among Black and Hispanic students, but not among multiple-race students, regardless of student gender. Healthy People 2020 set a goal to reduce school bullying victimization 10% by 2019. As of 2015, school bullying victimization decreased significantly among males (16% decrease); it significantly increased among females (17% increase). Future research should explore underlying factors related to these divergent trends, and develop effective strategies to reverse the alarming rise in female school bullying victimization.

Sex differences in the relationship between prescription opioid misuse and gun and other weapon-carrying behaviors

Much biomedical research is observational. The reporting of such research is often inadequate, which hampers the assessment of its strengths and weaknesses and of a study's generalisability. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) initiative developed recommendations on what should be included in an accurate and complete report of an observational study. We defined the scope of the recommendations to cover three main study designs: cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies. We convened a 2-day workshop in September, 2004, with methodologists, researchers, and journal editors to draft a checklist of items. This list was subsequently revised during several meetings of the coordinating group and in e-mail discussions with the larger group of STROBE contributors, taking into account empirical evidence and methodological considerations. The workshop and the subsequent iterative process of consultation and revision resulted in a checklist of 22 items (the STROBE statement) that relate to the title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of articles.18 items are common to all three study designs and four are specific for cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional studies.A detailed explanation and elaboration document is published separately and is freely available on the websites of PLoS Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Epidemiology. We hope that the STROBE statement will contribute to improving the quality of reporting of observational studies

The effect of joint exposures: examining the presence of interaction

Prevalence and associated factors of bullying victimization among Chinese high school students in Shandong, China

Adolescents with asthma are at risk for psychological and behavioral problems. The aim of this study was to determine whether high school students with asthma are at increased risk for bullying in school and cyberspace, and to explore the role of depressive symptoms in moderating this association. A secondary data analysis was completed with the 2011 Florida Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Participant included a random sample of adolescents in grades 9 through 12 who attended public high schools in Florida. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted using SPSS software. We examined data from 6212 high school adolescents and found a significant relationship between current asthma and cyberbullying in adolescents. Of the sample diagnosed with asthma, 15.6% reported bullying and 17% cyberbullying (versus 10.2% and 11% of nonasthmatics). We further examined data using depressive symptoms as a mediating and moderating variable and found significance on all accounts. Adolescents with asthma are at increased risk for being victims of bullying in school and cyberspace. Our findings suggest that adolescents with asthma who also report depressive symptoms are particularly at high risk for bullying than adolescents with asthma who did not report depressive symptoms. Efforts to increase education and decrease all types of bullying at the high school level for both students with and without asthma are warranted.

This study aimed to determine the association between engagement inmuscle-building exercise and weapon carrying and physical fighting amongadolescent boys. Cross-sectional data from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey(U.S.) were analyzed (N = 4120). Muscle-building exercise wasassessed based on the number of days reported in the past 7 days, recategorizedinto four levels of engagement (no engagement [0 days], low engagement[1–2 days], moderate engagement [3–5 days], and high engagement [6–7 days]).Three forms of weapon carrying (general, on school grounds, gun carrying) andtwo forms of physical fighting (general, on school grounds) were assessed. Fivelogistic regression analyses with adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidenceintervals (CI) were used to determine the association between engagement inmuscle-building exercise and weapon carrying and physical fighting, whileadjusting for relevant demographic and control variables. Over 75% ofparticipants reported engaging in muscle-building exercise. One in five (19.8%)participants reported any general weapon carrying in the past 30 days, 3.3%reported any weapon carrying at school in the past 30 days, 6.5% reported anygun carrying in the past 12 months, 28.0% reported any general physical fightingin the past 12 months, and 10.7% reported any physical fighting at school in thepast 12 months. Logistic regressions showed that, compared to no engagement,participants who reported high engagement of muscle-building exercise had higherodds of general weapon carrying (AOR 2.18, 95% CI 1.54–3.07), gun carrying (AOR2.12, 95% CI 1.23–3.64), and general physical fighting (AOR 2.07, 95% CI1.53–2.79). These are novel findings that add to a growing literature related toengagement in muscularity-oriented behaviors among males. Prevention andintervention efforts are needed to ensure that adolescent boys engage inmuscle-building exercise in ways that are not harmful and to reduce weaponcarrying and physical fighting.

Effect of prosocial behavior on school bullying victimization among children and adolescents: Peer and student-teacher relationships as mediators.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) youth are at a higher risk for school victimization, social isolation, and school weapon carrying compared with their heterosexual peers, yet few studies have been conducted to investigate their experiences. By using a general strain theory (GST) framework, data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) statewide probability sample of Delaware heterosexual (n = 7,688) and LGBQ (n = 484) youth in grades 9–12 show that there are both similarities and differences in the factors associated with school weapon carrying among LGBQ and heterosexual youth. LGBQ and heterosexual youth's weapon carrying is related to school victimization, but social support does not moderate the relationship between school victimization and school weapon carrying as suggested by GST. Furthermore, being male is significantly related to heterosexual youth's weapon carrying, but sex is not related to weapon carrying among LGBQ youth. Overall, the results highlight a need to reconceptualize GST to help center the experiences of LGBQ youth, a historically marginalized group, within mainstream criminological literature. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

269. Bullying, Weapon Carrying And Mental Health Outcomes Among U.S. High School Students - Results From A Nationally Representative Survey

BackgroundWe aim to examine the associations between poly-bullying victimization (i.e., school-, family- and cyber-bullying ever and only) and suicidal ideation (SI) among Chinese university and high school students, and the roles of interpersonal relationships and hopelessness in the interested relationships.MethodsWe included 17633 participants integrating data from the 2019 mental health survey in university students in Qinghai, China (N = 5700), and the Chinese Database of Youth Health in high school students (N = 11933) in Shandong. We applied multivariate logistic regression models to explore the associations between poly-bullying victimization and SI, by gender and level of schools. Stratification analyses were conducted by levels of hopelessness and interpersonal relationships. The role of hopelessness in the relationships between poly-bullying victimization and SI in university students was evaluated by fitting mediation analyses.ResultsExposure to specific forms of bullying victimization was positively associated with SI in students from both school levels. Cyberbullying victimization only was not significantly associated with SI in university students, but with significance in both female (OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.26–2.30) and male (OR: 2.69, 95% CI: 2.04–3.55) high school students. In university students, the association between school bullying only and SI was greater in female (OR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.71–3.34) than males (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 0.85–2.09); the strongest association was exhibited between the co-occurrence of family and school bullying victimization, and SI; a dose-response relationship was observed between number of victimization and SI, particularly among males. Interpersonal relationships did not significantly moderate the relationships between poly-bullying victimization and SI among university students. Hopelessness played significant mediating role in the relationships between Family + School bullying victimization and SI (14.80% mediated) in female university students, and Family + School + Cyberbullying victimization and SI (29.40%) in males.ConclusionThe exploration-oriented study provided an intricate mechanism of gender-specific differences in SI related to poly-bullying victimization. Tailored, gender-sensitive interventions and support systems for adolescents and young adults should be designed and implemented.

BACKGROUND: School safety is of growing interest with weapon carrying at the center. Weapon carrying in school causes physical injury and death among students and staff, and psychological trauma among those who witness the display or use of such weapons. Factors such as age, gender, mental and psychological status, bully victimization, family characteristics, poverty, and neighborhood crime have been associated with weapon carrying into schools. My main objective is to determine the prevalence of weapon carrying among US high school students and examine the association between bully victimization and weapon carrying in school. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of high school students from the 2019 YRBSS data was utilized for this cross-sectional study (n= 13,677). Logistic regression was used to assess if bully victimization predicts the odds of weapon carrying, adjusting for age, sex, grade, and sexual identity. A stratified analysis using age groups was also carried out to determine the odds of weapon carrying among younger adolescents (15 years and younger) and older adolescents (older than 15 years). RESULTS: In the final sample of 11,921 students, the prevalence of weapon carrying was 2.4%. 19.5% of the adolescents in the sample reported being bullied in school. Those who were bullied had 3.06 times greater odds of weapon carrying to school than those who were not bullied (aOR= 3.06; 95% CI 2.38,3.91]. These odds were lower among those aged 15 years and below (aOR= 2.05, 95% CI 1.33, 3.1) and higher among those greater than 15 years (OR= 3.45,95% CI 2.58, 4.6). CONCLUSION: With about 16 million students in US high schools, the prevalence of weapon carrying suggests that about 368,000 students carry weapons to school. The results suggest that victims of bullying are more likely to carry weapons to school. Interventions to improve school safety should also focus on reducing bullying in schools. Particular attention should be paid to older adolescents who are victims of bullying.

Although studies have investigated and found an association between victimization and weapon carrying, few studies have examined the association between exposure to neighborhood violence (NV) and gun carrying among adolescents. The objective of this study was to examine the cross-sectional association between exposure to NV and gun carrying among adolescents. Data for this study came from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 17,033 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years old (51.7% male) was analyzed using logistic regression with complementary log-log link function. The outcome variable investigated in this study is gun carrying and was measured as a binary variable, whereas the main explanatory variable examined in this study was exposure to NV, which was also measured as a binary variable. Of the 17,033 adolescents, 4.2% carried a weapon during the past year, and 18.7% were exposed to NV. Controlling for the effects of other factors, adolescents who were exposed to NV had more than double the odds of carrying a gun when compared to their counterparts not exposed to NV (adjusted odds ratio = 2.33, 95% Confidence Intervals [1.69, 3.23]). Other significant factors associated with gun carrying include being a male, non-Hispanic Black, being threatened or injured with a weapon, use of alcohol, cigarette smoking, and misuse of prescription opioids. High parental monitoring was protective against gun carrying. The findings of this study underscore the importance of developing age-appropriate intervention strategies to reduce gun carrying among adolescents. School counselors and other professionals working with adolescents in disadvantaged neighborhoods should actively engage parents in assessments and interventions.

Improvements in anti-bullying strategies are likely to depend upon a greater understanding of the psychological processes at work. Transactional theories of coping may be appropriate models to use when examining how the victims of bullying cope with victimization. Research has started to examine the coping strategy aspects of such theories but has neglected the process of appraisal. The current paper aims to address this by examining the perceptions of control in the victims of bullying, and how these are influenced by such variables as gender and the severity, persistence and type of bullying experienced. A self-report questionnaire examining coping responses and perceptions of control regarding the bullying situation was administered to 348 children aged nine to 11 years. Data from the victims of bullying (N = 184) revealed that girls felt less in control of frequent bullying than infrequent bullying, a trend not evident in boys (p < 0.05). In addition, a significantly higher proportion of the male victims of bullying felt more in control than female victims (p < 0.01). Finally, victims of short-term bullying were significantly more likely to feel in control than were victims of longer-term bullying (p < 0.05). The complex relationship between gender, perceptions of control, and the persistence and frequency of bullying has implications for early intervention and for professionals working with the victims of bullying.