Exposure to violence and victimization, depression, substance use, and the use of violence by young adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationships among exposure to violence; tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use; depression; church attendance; and the use of violence among very young adolescents. Methods: An 86-item confidential questionnaire was administered to 722 sixth grade students (mean age = 11.9 ± 0.8 years) attending 4 middle schools serving neighborhoods in and around public housing. Results: Boys had a higher mean violence scale score than girls (P ≤.0001), and students living in public housing had higher violence scale scores than other students (P ≤.0001). Self-reported use of violence was significantly associated with exposure to violence (r =.45); age (r =.28); frequency of church attendance (r = –.14); depression (r =.28); the probability of being alive at age 25 (r = –.09); the frequency of use of cigarettes (r =.39), alcohol (r =.37), and multiple substances (r =.38); and interest in a gang (r =.37). When all of these variables were analyzed with multiple linear regression, multiple substance use, exposure to violence, interest in a gang, male gender, cigarette smoking, and depression level accounted for 49.7% of the variation in the use of violence scale. Conclusion: Recent multiple substance use and lifetime exposure to violence and victimization were the strongest correlates with the frequency that these youth reported using violence and carrying weapons. (J Pediatr 2000;137:707-13)