Gender Differences in Predicting Use of Violence Among African American Adolescents

Background: During adolescence, African Americans are characterized by much higher rates of violence victimization and perpetration than in other stages of the life cycle. Evidence suggests that African American youth are at greater risk for experiencing the direct and indirect effects of violence and victimization more so than any other U.S.-based population of adolescents. Using an ecological framework, this study sought to understand risk and protective factors associated with use of violence among African American adolescents ages 12–17 years. We also examined whether the effects of micro, meso, and macro levels were equivocal in predicting use of violence among African American females and males.

Method: This cross-sectional study used a national sample from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N =2,328). The measure for use of violence was an aggregate, observed variable comprised of four Likert-scale items. Respondents answered the following questions: How many times have you gotten into a serious fight at school or work?; How many times have you taken part in a fight where a group of your friends fought against another group? and How many times have you attacked someone with the intent to seriously hurt them? How many times have you carried a handgun? Micro factors (family composition, family income, family poverty levels, frequency of moves, religious beliefs), meso factors (parental involvement, parental conflict, deviant peer influence, school connectedness, school grades, community engagement) and macro factors (population density) were included in the analysis as predictors. A path analysis model was computed on the AMOS software, followed by a multigroup analysis to determine whether significant gender differences exist in use of violence. Path analysis results suggest that use of violence among African American adolescents was predicted by family income, frequency of moves, religious beliefs, conflict with parents, deviant peer influence, school grades, and community activities. The results of the critical ratios in the multigroup analysis suggests that the pathways to use of violence significantly differ between African American males and females. Conflict with parents varied significantly between African American males and females. The relationship was much stronger for African American males (β = .20) than females (β =.13). Deviant peer influence was a significant predictor of increased use of violence among African American females (β = .16), but not males. Having a father present in the home was a significant predictor of less use of violence for African American males (β = -.08), but not females. Among African American females, living in areas with larger populations were associated with higher levels of use of violence (β = 0.19), but not among males. The number of family members in a household was associated with increased use of violence for African American males (β = .06), but it was associated with decreased use of violence among African American females (β = -.03).

Conclusion: Findings suggest that all three ecological domains and gender differences should be accounted for when developing prevention or intervention services that target use of violence among young African Americans.