International Perspectives on Adolescent Violence

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International Perspectives on Adolescent Violence
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Co-investigators

• Mary D. Overpeck, DrPH
• Peter C. Scheidt, MD, MPH
• Acknowlegement
• Patricia Moyer, NICHD
• Lois Fingerhut, NCHS/CDC

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Data Sources

• Mortality
• WHO Statistics
• International Collaborative Effort on Injury
  Statistics
  

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Nonfatal Data Source

• WHO study
• of Health Behavior
• in School Children
• 1997/98 Survey

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Injury Mortality Rates by Intent Age 15-19

• Source is latest data available from WHO
  Statistics Website
  
• Averaging about 10 years of data for each country

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Injury Mortality rates for ages 15-19 years by
intent
USA
Unintentional
Suicide
Homicide
Undetermined
Other violence/war
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Deaths by Mechanism

• Mechanism describes how someone died
• e.g. firearms, cutting/piercing, suffocation

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Mechanism of Homicides - Age 15 - 24
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Mechanism of Suicides - Age 15 - 24
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Non-fatal Behaviors

• WHO Study of Health Behavior in School-aged
  Children
  
• Nationally representative surveys of 11, 13 15
  year old youth in 29 countries
  
• Self report, school based surveys

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METHODS

• Conducted academic year 1997-98
• 120,000 respondents
• 95 CIs for percents shown are about 2.5 for
  each country
  

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VARIABLES

• Fighting, bullying, weapon carrying
• Other health-related and risk behaviors
• School, family and peer factors

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BULLYING DEFINITION
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• We say a student is BEING BULLIED when another
  student, or a group of students say or do nasty
  and unpleasant things to him or her.
  
• It is also BULLYING when a student is teased
  repeatedly in a way he or she doesnt like.
  
• But it is NOT BULLYING when two students of
  about the same strength quarrel or fight.

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How often have you been bullied in school this
term?
USA
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How often have you taken part in bullying other
students?
USA
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Do you feel safe at school?
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During the past 12 months, how many times were
you in a physical fight?
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The last time you were in a physical fight, with
whom did you fight?

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During the past 30 days, on how many days did you
carry a weapon, such as a gun, knife or club, for
self-defense?
Belgium-Flemish
Estonia
Hungary
Israel
Portugal
Republic of Ireland
USA
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percent not Carrying
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COMPARISONS OF FIGHTING AND HOMICIDE
Homicide Rates
Country
Not Fighting
15-19 yrs
11.4
Estonia 60.6
1.0
54.6
Israel
0.9
Portugal 68.8
0.6
55.6
Irish Rep
0.8
61.2
Sweden
60.2
USA
18.6
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Summary

• Primary difference between fatality rates among
  U.S. and other countries is the homicide rates
  
• Behavioral data indicate that U.S. adolescents
  are no more violent than those in most other
  countries
  

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Discussion

• Comparability of data for fatalities
• and nonfatal behavior
• Other studies of violence, bullying,
• fighting and weapon carrying
• Effective targeting of interventions
• for violence