Physical Fighting Research Articles

Destructive Workplace Deviance in the Farming Sector, South Africa

In today's world of work, understanding destructive deviant workplace behaviours becomes more significant for organisations as they attempt to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Destructive deviant behaviour in organisations has received more focus in recent years due to its negative repercussions, which inhibit growth. However, it has rarely been studied in the farming sector, even though the sector is considered to be the main contributor towards bringing economic stability, especially in Africa. This paper explores the forms of farmworkers’ destructive deviant behaviours that threaten the well-being of the farms in order for management to be in a better position to effectively manage them. A narrative approach to inquiry was adopted in order to understand the farmworkers’ views and experiences in relation to their engagement in various forms of destructive deviant behaviours at their workplace. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 39 farmworkers. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data and twelve themes were created in relations to the forms of destructive deviant actions that farmworkers engaged in. These themes include; putting little effort, incomplete work, sleeping on duty, extending break, using wrong working methods, ignorance of safety procedures, being under influence of alcohol, late coming, verbal fights, physical fights, theft and abscondment. The themes were further grouped into two categories, namely, interpersonal deviance and organisational deviance. An insight in relation to the various forms of destructive workplace deviance can enable management to develop appropriate managerial strategies that would minimise workers’ tendencies to engage in destructive deviant behaviours and jeopardise the well-being of organisations.

PERBANDINGAN TINGKAT ADIKSI GAME ONLINE DENGAN TINGKAT AGRESIVITAS PADA REMAJA SEKOLAH MENENGAH PERTAMA

Aggressive behavior is an act of non-physical or physical force that intended to cause harm. Aggressive behavior in adolescents is a global public health problem. It includes a range of acts from acts of intimidation, physical fights, even a murder. In Indonesia, there has been an increase in cases of aggressive behavior in teenagers from 321 cases in 2021 to 1451 cases in 2020.Studies have shown multiple factors within a person that may contribute to aggressive behavior, including an addiction to online games. An excessive increase in dopamine due to online game addiction causes a decrease in dopamine D2 receptors (D2DRs) in the prefrontal cortex. This causes dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex which can lead to aggressive behavior The aim of the study was the investigation of the addictive potential of gaming as well as the relationship between online game addiction and aggressive behavior. A cross-sectional study was conducted using Indonesia Online Game Addiction Questionnaire (IOGAQ) and Buss-Perry Agression Questionnaire (BPAQ). The sample consisted of 133 students of SMPN 1 Lubuk Sikaping, using total sampling technique. Data revealed that 58,6% of students fulfilled diagnostic criteria of online game addiction (mild to severe category) and 56,4% of students had moderate levels of aggression. The study concluded that there is a correlation between online game addiction and aggressive behavior (p-value = 0.000).

Evaluating the function and psychometric properties of a violence risk screening tool in a community sample of adolescents.

Youth violence continues to be widespread. Despite numerous evidence-based programs that reduce youth violence, objective ways to identify youth in need of services is lacking. Few screening tools are available that enables practitioners or community organizations to predict who may perpetrate serious violence. The Violence Injury Protection and Risk Screen (VIPRS) is a previously validated screening tool providing a framework to address youth violence. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the VIPRS in a community sample for use in multiple settings. Youth participating in a community-focused youth violence prevention intervention served as the study subjects. Households with youth ages 10-17 were eligible to participate. Study personnel verbally asked youth survey questions and recorded answers on a laptop. Multiple measures-including risk factors for violent behavior as well as, violence and delinquency scales, were asked. Eleven hundred youth participated. Mean age was 13.3; 53% female, 26% Black, 58% Hispanic, 11% more than 1 race. Twenty percent screened positive on the VIPRS-28% male versus 13% female (p = .000). Violence-related behaviors were common: 33% were in a physical fight, 27% experienced cyberbullying victimization, and 9% perpetrated a minor assault. The VIPRS demonstrated robust criterion validity with significant correlation to multiple violence measures (0.3-0.6). Scoring positive on the VIPRS conveyed increased odds of reporting other violent behaviors, such as perpetrating physical aggression (OR: 7 [95% CI: 5.1-11.5]). Overall, the VIPRS performed well in a community sample of youth further validating its psychometric functioning while demonstrating the potential for use in settings beyond healthcare.

Canvassing the epidemiology of risk behaviors in adolescent school students in a city of eastern Uttar Pradesh

Background: Adolescents while learning a new world of complex priorities; may make choices quickly or impulsively without giving legitimate critical thoughts. The aim was to determine the prevalence of risk behaviors among adolescents and its socio-demographic determinants. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological study done on 427 students enrolled in class IX-XII of schools in eastern Uttar Pradesh recruited via cluster sampling. The questionnaire included questions regarding the participant’s profile and risk behaviors. Data analysis was done with SPSS v23 and Chi-Square test. Results: Mean age was 14.86 years. 33% engaged in a physical fight and 25% sustained injuries more than once in the last one year. 15% were bullied. As a bystander, subjects from higher classes (XI-XII) and female gender seem to have more ‘avoiding’ tendencies whereas those from lower classes (IX and X) and male gender preferred to ‘stand against the bully and physical force to stop them’. 8.2% had to escape from school to avoid physical injury. 54% felt depressed, 17.6% contemplated suicide, and 4.4% attempted suicide. Though depression was predominant among rural girls and poor socio-economic status and academics; suicidal ideation and attempt was more common among boys. Conclusions: This study highlights the risk behaviours prevalent among Indian adolescents. It falls in the purview of the Government to improve policies, plan and monitor programs to strengthen the upcoming youth.

Impact of perceived discrimination and coping strategies on well-being and mental health in newly-arrived migrants in Spain.

To explore how perceived discrimination impacts the emotional well-being and mental health of newly-arrived migrants in Spain; and to identify the coping strategies and behavioral changes used to deal with perceived discrimination. 102 individual audio-recorded in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed through content analysis. Negative emotions related to perceived discrimination included disgust, sadness, fear, loneliness, humiliation, sense of injustice, rage, feeling undervalued or vulnerable, and mixed emotions. Change in behaviors due to perceived discrimination comprised westernization or cultural assimilation, creating a good image, avoiding going out or leaving alone, hypervigilance, stop participating in politics, self-sufficiency, a positive adaptation, and paradoxically, becoming an oppressor. The identified coping strategies to deal with perceived discrimination were ignoring or not responding, isolation, self-medication, engagement in intellectual activities, leisure and sport, talking or insulting the oppressor, denouncement, physical fight or revenge, seeking comfort, increasing solidarity with others, crying, or using humor. Discrimination-related stress and related mental health problems were conveyed, as challenges related to substance abuse and addictive behaviors, mood, and anxiety. Findings establish initial evidence of the great impact of perceived discrimination on the health, emotional well-being, and behavior of newly-arrived migrants in Spain, alerting to the need for targeted policies and services to address the effects of discrimination in this population. Further research is needed to explore more closely the causes and effects of perceived discrimination on mental health, to develop more targeted and effective interventions.

Road Rage and Anger-Provoking Situations in Sulaimani City- Iraq

Driver behavior factors, including road rage factor, are often responsible for increasing traffic accidents that result in deaths, physical injuries, psychological problems, and financial losses. In order to improve traffic safety problems in our country, road rage issues related to anger-provoking situations were explored. To collect data, two questionnaire survey forms related to road rage level, traffic characteristics, and demographics of the drivers were prepared. The road rage questionnaire form included 12 questions related to popular anger-provoking situations. Six Likert scales were scored starting from 0% to 100%. Out of 600 spread forms, 463 valid forms were accepted to be analyzed. Different participants having different gender, age, education level, driving experience, vehicle type, daily travel time, vehicles’ price, traffic accidents, and the road rage history were contributed. A statistical software program (SPSS 26) was utilized to analyze the data. It was obtained that there are significant correlations among road rage-provoking anger questions and the total overall rate of the road rage. On the other hand, the results showed that male drivers are angrier than female drivers during driving. The older the drivers, the less overall road rage values were obtained. The overall road rage value decreased as the education level of the drivers raised to higher level. Driver skills had significant effects on the results of the overall road rage value of the drivers in which the drivers having 4 to 6 years of driving license were angrier than the other drivers, while drivers having driving license more than 6 years had the less feeling of anger during driving. Regarding types of vehicles, the bus, taxi, and then truck drivers had more overall road rage values than PC and SUV drivers. As the drivers traveled more distances, the obtained results of the overall road rage values became greater. The drivers who have high-price vehicles were angrier than those have low-price vehicles. The Drivers’ accident history did not significantly relate to overall road rage values. In addition, the drivers who did not have any road rage history in their real life had the smallest overall road rage values; while those drivers faced physical fighting and engaged police stations due to road rage problems had the greatest overall road rage value.

Prevalence and correlates of unintentional nonfatal injuries among school-going adolescents in Central America.

The aim of this study is to report on the frequency of serious physical injuries (SPI) among adolescents in Central America during the previous decade, 2009-2018. In total, 15,807 school adolescents (14.4 years mean age; SD=1.4) from six Central American countries participated in cross-sectional Global School-based Student Health Surveys in 2009-2018 (ranging from 1,779 students in Honduras in 2012 to 4,374 students in Guatemala in 2015). The prevalence of SPI was 33.8 % (22.9 % once, 7.4 % 2 or 3 times and 3.6 % 4 or more times), ranging from 31.8 % in Guatemala to 45.0 % in Belize and 45.6 % in Panama. The most frequent causes of SPI included fall (11.4 %, ranging from 6.9 % in Costa Rica to 15.6 % in Panama), and the type of SPI was fracture/dislocation (5.7 %, ranging from 4.3 % in Costa Rica to 6.7 % in Panama). In adjusted Poisson regression, male sex,food insecurity, a history of alcohol intoxication, soft drink consumption, fast food intake, truancy, multiple sexual partners, psychological distress, physical fight, physically attacked, bullied, and suicide attempt were significantly associated with a higher number of injury event counts. Overall, about one in three adolescents in Central America had sustained unintentional injuries in the past 12months and several contributing factors were identified which if addressed could aid injury prevention among adolescents.

Anxiety symptoms and associated factors among school students after 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Zhejiang Province, China

ObjectivesTo ascertain the prevalence and associated factors of anxiety symptoms among middle and high school students in Zhejiang after 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA school-based cross-sectional study.Setting30 counties/districts in...

Prevalence and factors associated with serious injuries and aggressive behaviours among in-school adolescents in Panama.

Injuries during adolescence cause lifelong harm and death. Our study used a nationally representative sample to examine the prevalence and risk factors associated with serious injuries among in-school adolescents in Panama. We analysed Panama's 2018 Global School-Based Student Health Survey data using SPSS. Percentages were used to summarise the results of the prevalence of serious injuries. Binomial logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the risk factors of serious injuries. The results were presented as an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at a 95% confidence interval (CI). The prevalence of serious injury among in-school adolescents in Panama is 45%. Furthermore, the study found that males (AOR= 1.495, CI=1.272--1.756), truancy (AOR=1.493, CI=1.249--1.785), overweight (AOR= 1.246, 95% CI=11.057--1.469), drinking alcohol (AOR= 1.397, CI=1.151--1.695), experiencing physical attack (AOR= 2.100, CI=11.646--2.681), engaging in a physical fight (AOR=1.586, CI=1.289--1.952) and bullied outside school (AOR=1.276, CI=1.005--1.621) significantly predict serious injuries among adolescents in Panama. Multidisciplinary approaches targeting the correlates observed will help reduce the high prevalence of serious injuries among in-school adolescents in Panama.

The prevalence of health risk behavior engagement among grade 4 to 7 learners in primary schools: A phase one needs analysis.

Health risk behaviour, as it pertains to adolescent behaviour, poses a massive challenge for many fields of medicine, not only due to developmental and psychological concerns but also its inevitable contribution to the burden of disease through trauma and non-communicable diseases resulting from risky behavioural choices. The objective study is to explore the prevalence of health risk behavior engagement among grade 4-7 learners at four primary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa, as well as establish a need for a prevention program starting at primary school level. An observational, descriptive, quantitative design was used to conduct this study. Non-probability, heterogenous, purposive sampling was used to select the study population. A needs analysis assessment using a modified self-administered Child Health Risk Behaviour survey was conducted using 7-inch electronic tablets. Four primary schools agreed to participate yielding a total sample size of n=1147 learners in grades 4 to 7. Learners' age ranged from nine years old to fourteen years old with a mean age of 11.45 (SD 1.271). Riding a bicycle without a helmet, physical fight (86.1 and 64.1% among boys and girls respectively), ever smoked a cigarette (boys 36.3%; girls 28.3%) and consuming alcohol without permission (boys 28.7%; girls 23.8%) had the most engagement. Sexual curiosity questions had by far the most positive engagement and consistency of engagement among both boys and girls. This evidence reaffirms the need that early, bespoke and scientific intervention/prevention programs are needed to combat health risk behaviour and subsequently reduce the burden of disease.

Prevalence of cyberbullying and associated factors among adolescents in Dubai schools: complex design survey – 2019

ABSTRACT Cyberbullying is a recognized public health threat with established links to physical and mental health problems. A 2-stage stratified random cluster analysis of data from a self-administered survey on health-related behaviours including 1,683 adolescents from 28 government and private schools estimated the prevalence of cyberbullying and examined potentially related psychological and behavioural factors. We identified loneliness, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, sadness, lack of parental understanding, tobacco use, school absenteeism, and physical fights as associated factors. However, logistic regression found statistically significant higher odds only for experiencing sadness and loneliness, school absenteeism and physical fights, indicating reduction in these factors as the primary goals of comprehensive cyberbullying prevention programs to protect the health and wellbeing of adolescent.

The voices of Japanese and U.S. elementary-school aged children with disabilities: Navigating stigmatization within peer groups

Children’s experience of disability-related stigmatization is a central social justice issue across cultures. Yet children’s voices are rarely heard by policy makers, and available programs for children with disabilities typically lack input from children’s own experiences. This paper presents a cross-cultural case study of how three children with disabilities in Japan and the U.S. responded to stigmatization from their “typically-developing” peers. We choose these cases for in-depth examination to contextualize and deepen our understanding of themes identified from our larger, ethnographic study. Similar to the participants in our larger study, these elementary school-aged children experienced disability-related stigmatization, including teasing and bullying. They actively responded to reduce their immediate exposure to stigmatization. Some of these responses, however, created additional challenges. For example, children’s physical fighting in response to teasing resulted in punitive discipline in the U.S. Children’s avoidance of peers undermined academic achievement and psychosocial development, especially in Japan where peer groups are central contexts for education. Furthermore, children’s responses to stigmatization often concealed their peer struggles or were misunderstood by educators, which delayed their access to appropriate support. We discuss social work implications for child-centered programs of support.

In-school adolescents' sociodemographic correlates of serious unintentional injuries in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: A cross-sectional study.

As a public health concern, serious adolescent injuries constitute considerable global morbidity and mortality. Despite the proliferation of literature on this problem, the evidence on the determinants of injuries among in-school adolescents in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is insufficient. The study analyzed data from the 2018 Global School-based Student Health Survey to examine the prevalence and determinants of serious injuries in a nationwide adolescent sample in SVG. χ 2 And binomial logistic regression analyses were carried out, along with an adjusted odds ratio and a 95% confidence interval. Serious injuries among this population were estimated at 50.5%. Student grades, gender, truancy, amphetamine or methamphetamine use, marijuana or alcohol use, cigarette smoking, physical assault, physical fight, cyberbullying, suicidal behavior (ideation, plan, and attempt), parental or guardian tobacco use, and multiple sexual partners were significantly associated with serious injuries. After adjusting for other variables, being a male, having experienced a physical attack, fighting physically, attempting suicide, and having multiple sexual partners predicted serious injuries among in-school adolescents in SVG. The use of integrative health promotion and injury prevention programmes (e.g., antiviolence campaigns) and educational measures could help minimize or eradicate this menace in SVG.

Natural law perspective underlying The Republic of Türkiye

Republic of Türkiye was founded during the years, starting with the Allied Powers’ occupation by the end of World War War in 1918-1919 and until declaration of the republic in November 29, 1923. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the Turkish republic and leader of the liberation war preceding it, mentioned in one of his speeches that the struggle for an independent Turkish Republic was initiated with the motto “There is ‘right’ in the world, and the right is superior to might, for sure”. This motto implies that the struggle against the occupying powers and the monarchy under their control, wouldn’t be only a military campaign for obtaining actual dominance through physical fight, but also a legal struggle based on universally accepted principles of the law. Analyzing those years retrospectively, one can see recognition of the Republic of Türkiye is based on the struggle’s legal victories gained in Lausanne, in support of the world-wide accepted legal principles, in addition to its actual dominance over the lands. These legal victories include recognition of the new republic as a result of execution of Turks’ self-determination rights under Wilson’s principles and new republic’s economically and politically equal status as a reflection of the natural rights of every people under republican/nationalist viewpoint that stems from the French Revolution (Öktem, 2011, 271), as well as more commonly accepted principles such as Pacta Sund Servanda and reciprocity. This study, leaving aside the military achievements, handles the legal and political achievements obtained by the Turkish republic in 1923 under natural law doctrine between 1919 and 1923, all of which form a part of the fundamentals of Republic of Türkiye. These include Turkish nations’ right to be represented under General Will theory, people’s right to form a new government in case of chaos for protection of their natural rights such as freedom, right to life and right to property, maintenance of the rights inherited from the monarchy under Pacta Sund Servanda principle and recognition of all these rights under international law as a universally fundamental of law under the doctrine of Hugo Grotius.

Firearm injury among people experiencing homelessness: Cross-sectional evidence from a national survey of United States emergency departments

ObjectivesPersons experiencing homelessness (PEH) are at high risk for violent victimization. This study leverages unique data from a national study in the United States of America to provide estimates of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH and to describe the contexts related to injury, such as substance use, intent of the injury, and precipitating interpersonal factors. Study designCross-sectional. MethodsData from the 1993–2020 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Firearm Injury Surveillance Study (NEISS-FISS) were used to describe the context and characteristics of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH aged 16 years or older. Homeless status and substance use data were extracted from a de-identified narrative field. Estimates were weighted to account for the NEISS-FISS complex sampling design. ResultsProbable homelessness was identified in 0.10% of cases (n = 3,225). Substance use was documented in 22.73% of cases. Assault comprised 82.64% of injuries. Patients were mostly male (81.38%). Missing data were common on contextual variables: verbal argument (64.62%), physical fight (54.48%) or other criminal activity (62.33%). ConclusionsAssault is a leading cause of non-fatal firearm injury for PEH and is greater than rates of assault in non-fatal firearm injuries in the general population. Substance use was documented in nearly one quarter of patients, although this is less than expected given prior evidence. Reliance on narrative fields for key variables likely underestimates rates of PEH and substance use.

Semantic Association of Jihad: Indonesian Muslim Students’ Perspectives

The findings show that the students’ view on Jihad is not merely identical to fighting but also the application of Jihad, which varies. It has a wide spectrum as long as its purpose and still in the religious morality frame. Spreading Rahmatan (affection) concept and The word jihad, which mentioned in the Qur'an about 35 times, including its derivations, has often been understood only at the scriptural level, detached from its contexts. As a result, jihad has been assumed to be a specific act of violence, such as terrorism and radicalism. This article aims to explain the concept of jihad in Islam from the perspective of Indonesian Muslim students at Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia, and to explore the factors that influence their understanding of jihad. This study adopts a semantic approach to the teaching of jihad in the Qur'an, contextualizing it with the current situation. The findings show that the students' view of jihad is not limited to physical fighting, but also includes a wide range of other applications, as long as they are motivated by religious morality. The moral and spiritual values implicit in jihad include spreading the concept of rahmahan (affection) and promoting peace of life and spiritual values

Tobacco Use among School-Age Adolescents in Indonesia: Findings from the 2015 Indonesia Global School-Based Student Health Survey.

Although Indonesia has a considerable proportion of adolescent smokers, nationally representative studies of its determinants remain limited. The 2015 Indonesian Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) was conducted with school-age adolescents and provided information about smoking behavior. This study aimed to examine the prevalence, determinants, and correlates of tobacco use among adolescents in Indonesia using the GSHS survey. A secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2015 Indonesian GSHS. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the determinants and correlates of tobacco use. Our analysis showed that 9.1% of school-age adolescents had used tobacco products in the past 30 days. Most were 13-15 years (61.7%) and had attempted to stop smoking (92.4%). After adjusting for covariates, significant risk factors associated with tobacco smoking were older age groups (prevalence odds ratio [POR], 3.01-9.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-23.1), male (POR, 13.7; 95% CI, 8.71-21.5), psychological distress (POR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.05-1.90), smoking exposure (POR, 1.98-2.15; 95% CI, 1.35-3.42), and when both parents smoked (POR, 2.96; 95% CI, 1.78-4.94). In addition, tobacco use was associated with other risky behaviors, including sex with multiple partners, using drugs, drinking alcohol, and being involved in physical fights. Tobacco use is high among Indonesian adolescents. This prevalence highlights the need for a more stringent tobacco control policy and tailored cessation programs for adolescents by considering important modifiable determinants of tobacco use among adolescents, including risky smoking-related behaviors.

Gun carrying among US adolescents: the mutual impact of violence experiences, safety concerns, and substance use behaviors

ObjectivesYouth firearm carriage significantly contributes to firearm-related injuries and deaths in the United States (US). This study examined the sex-specific patterns and cumulative effects of violence experiences, safety concerns, and substance use behaviors on youth firearm carriage. Study designCross-sectional study. MethodsBased on a nationally representative sample (N = 13,526), the multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the interplay of violence experiences (weapon threats, physical fights, and sexual violence), safety concerns, and substance use behaviors (cigarette, electronic vapor, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription opioid), and their direct, indirect, and total effects on youth gun carrying behavior. ResultsAbout one in 50 females and one in 15 males reported firearm carriage in the past year. Sex-specific patterns existed. Among female adolescents, gun carrying was strongly correlated with violence experiences (standardized coefficient (β) = 0.77, P < 0.001), but no direct connection was observed with substance use behaviors. Among males, both violence experiences (β = 0.56, P < 0.001) and substance use behaviors (β = 0.26, P < 0.001) were significantly correlated with gun carrying. Although safety concerns did not show a direct effect on gun carrying, a significant indirect effect was observed via the pathway of violence experiences. Collectively, the three clusters of predictors explained about 59.9% of variance in gun carrying among females and 54.6% of variance among males. ConclusionsViolence experiences have a robust impact on gun carrying behavior in both female and male adolescents. Effective violence prevention programs and sex-specific strategies (e.g., substance use intervention for males) are needed to reduce youth firearm carriage.

Alcohol versus combined alcohol and energy drinks consumption: Risk behaviors and consumption patterns among European students.

Recent research found that drinking alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) could be riskier than drinking alcohol alone. Our aim was to compare rates of risk behaviors in consumers of AmED versus exclusive alcohol drinkers, matching them based on their drinking frequency. Data about 16-year-old students who reported the number of occasions on which they had drunk AmED or alcohol only in the preceding 12 months (n=32,848) were drawn from the 2019 ESPAD study. After matching for consumption frequency, the sample consisted of 22,370 students (11,185 AmED consumers and 11,185 exclusive alcohol drinkers). Key predictors comprised substance use, other individual risk behaviors, and family characteristics (parental regulation, monitoring, and caring). The multivariate analysis showed significantly higher odds of being AmED consumers compared to being exclusive alcohol drinkers in the majority of the investigated risk behaviors, including: daily tobacco smoking, illicit drug use, heavy episodic drinking, truancy at school, engaging in physical fights and serious arguments, having troubles with the police, and having unprotected sexual intercourse. Instead, lower odds were found for reporting high parents' educational level, medium and low family economic status, perceived possibility to freely talk about problems to family members, spending free time reading books or other hobbies. Our study shows that, given the same consumption frequency in the past year, AmED consumers typically reported higher associations with risk-taking behaviors compared to exclusive alcohol drinkers. These findings advance past research that failed to control for the frequency of AmED use versus exclusive alcohol consumption.

The influence of depressive symptoms and school-going status on risky behaviors: a pooled analysis among adolescents in six sub-Saharan African countries.

Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regarding risky behaviors among adolescents remains scarce, despite the large population (approximately 249 million out of 1.2 billion globally in 2019) of adolescents in the region. We aimed to examine the potential influence of depressive symptoms and school-going status on risky behaviors among adolescents in six SSA countries. We used individual cross-sectional data from adolescents aged 10-19 based in eight communities across six SSA countries, participating in the ARISE Network Adolescent Health Study (N = 7,661). Outcomes of interest were cigarette or tobacco use, alcohol use, other substance use, getting into a physical fight, no condom use during last sexual intercourse, and suicidal behavior. We examined the proportion of adolescents reporting these behaviors, and examined potential effects of depressive symptoms [tertiles of 6-item Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS-6) score] and school-going status on these behaviors using mixed-effects Poisson regression models. We also assessed effect modification of associations by sex, age, and school-going status. The proportion of adolescents reporting risky behaviors was varied, from 2.2% for suicidal behaviors to 26.2% for getting into a physical fight. Being in the higher tertiles of KADS-6 score was associated with increased risk of almost all risky behaviors [adjusted risk ratio (RR) for highest KADS-6 tertile for alcohol use: 1.70, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.48-1.95, p < 0.001; for physical fight: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.36-1.70, p < 0.001; for suicidal behavior: 7.07, 95% CI: 2.69-18.57, p < 0.001]. Being in school was associated with reduced risk of substance use (RR for alcohol use: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.53-1.00, p = 0.047), and not using a condom (RR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.66-0.99, p = 0.040). There was evidence of modification of the effect of school-going status on risky behaviors by age and sex. Our findings reinforce the need for a greater focus on risky behaviors among adolescents in SSA. Addressing depressive symptoms among adolescents, facilitating school attendance and using schools as platforms to improve health may help reduce risky behaviors in this population. Further research is also required to better assess the potential bidirectionality of associations.