An Analysis Of Violence Victimization, Substance Use, And Gender As Predictors Of Violence Perpetration Among Adolescents

The present study examined potential predictors for interpersonal violence perpetration among adolescents, focusing primarily on reported violence victimization but also analyzing reported substance use and gender. I made correlational assessments using 11,306 responses (mean age, 16.1, SD = 1.2) from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. I focused on questions related to violence perpetration (physical or sexual), to violence victimization (physical or sexual), and to substance use (alcohol bingeing or marijuana use). I ran a simultaneous binomial logistic regression as well as separate chi-square tests to test the strength of the correlations between each categorical predictor and violence perpetration. Participants who reported violence victimization were at three times higher risk of perpetrating violence than those who reported no victimization. Moreover, adolescents who reported substance use were at twice the risk of perpetrating violence than nonusers; this was the case both for alcohol users and for marijuana users. Finally, the risk of violence perpetration among males was almost three times that of females. Given the correlations observed in the current study, preventative efforts may focus on adolescent victimization, substance use habits, and gendered socialization as a means to reduce the prevalence of violence perpetration among adolescents.