Occurrence of violence and violence-related injuries among 12

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence, nature, and severity of violence and violence-related injuries, and the occurrence of alcohol-related violence among Finnish adolescents. Methods: A 12-page questionnaire was mailed to a nationwide representative sample of 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-year-olds (n=10,883). The response rate was 75%. Results: Of the 8,135 respondents, 7.9% (646) reported violence occurrence and 1.7% violence-related injury during the past month. The male—female ratio for violence occurrence was 1.9 (95% CI 1.6—2.2) and for violence-related injury occurrence 0.8 (95% CI 0.6—1.2). Sixteen-year-old girls reported the highest injury rate (23/1,000). Most typically, the violent persons were individuals known by the victim before the incident. Girls were significantly ( p<0.001) more often (43%) in a fight with, or assailed by, a family member than boys (8%). Although boys' violent actions were related to leisure-time activities (64%), violence rarely took place during sports activities. Alcohol-related violence increased with age. Some 13% of 14-year-olds reported being under the influence of alcohol at the time of violence. The corresponding figures for 16- and 18-year-olds were 41% and 62%, respectively. Moreover, alcohol was closely associated with violence-related injuries. Conclusions: Violence is common among Finnish adolescents. While violence does not always lead to injury, related injuries are an important cause of adolescent morbidity. Alcohol seems to be strongly associated with adolescent violence and related injuries.

Keywords

Adolescents alcohol injuries occurrence violence

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Krug EG , Dahlberg LL , Mercy JA World report on violence and health. Geneva: WHO; 2002.

Grunbaum JA , Kann L. , Kinchen SA , Williams B. , Ross JG , Lowry R. , et al., Youth risk behavior surveillance —United States, 2001. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2002: Surveillance Summaries 51:1—62.

Engstrom K. , Laflamme L. Socio-economic differences in intentional injuries: A national study of Swedish male and female adolescents. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl 2002:26—9.

Pridemore WA Vodka and violence: Alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia. Am J Public Health 2002;92:1921—30.

Macdonald S. , Wells S. , Giesbrecht N. , Cherpitel CJ Demographic and substance use factors related to violent and accidental injuries: Results from an emergency room study. Drug Alcohol Depend 1999;55:53—61.

Kaplan SJ , Pelcovitz D. , Salzinger S. , Weiner M. , Mandel FS , Lesser ML , et al. Adolescent physical abuse: Risk for adolescent psychiatric disorders . Am J Psychiatry 1998;155: 954—9.

Pate RR , Trost SG , Levin S. , Dowda M. Sports participation and health-related behaviors among US youth. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2000;154:904—11.

Lintonen T. , Rimpela M. , Ahlstrom S. , Rimpela A. , Vikat A. Trends in drinking habits among Finnish adolescents from 1977 to 1999. Addiction 2000;95:1255—63.

Pietila AM , Rantakallio P. , Laara E. Background factors predicting non-response in a health survey of northern Finnish young men. Scand J Soc Med 1995;23:129—36.

10.

Nunez S. , Garcia-Martin P. , Aguirre-Jaime A.

Victims of violence in an emergency department. Eur

J Emergency Med 2000;7:45—9.

11.

Ellickson P. , Saner H. , McGuigan KA Profiles of violent youth: Substance use and other concurrent problems. Am J Public Health 1997;87:985—91.

12.

Kann L. , Kinchen SA , Williams B. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 1999. MMWR — Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2000;49:1—96.

13.

Brener ND , Simon TR , Krug EG , Lowry R. Recent trends in violence-related behaviors among high school students in the United States. JAMA 1999;282:440—6.

14.

Diaz A. , Simantov E. , Rickert VI Effect of abuse on health: results of a national survey. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2002;156:811—17.

15.

Hamberger LK , Ambuel B. Dating violence. Pediatr Clin North Am 1998 ;45:381—90.

16.

Moskowitz HM , Griffith J. Serious injuries and deaths of adolescent girls resulting from interpersonal violence: Characteristics and trends from the United States, 1989-1998. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2001;155: 903—8.

17.

Humphrey G. , Casswell S. , Han DY Alcohol and injury among attendees at a New Zealand emergency department. N Z Med J 2003 ;116:U298.

18.

Loiselle JM , Baker MD , Templeton JMJ , Schwartz G. , Drott H. Substance abuse in adolescent trauma. Ann Emerg Med 1993;22:1530—4.

19.

Vartiainen E. , Puska P. , Pekkanen J. , Tuomilehto J. , Lonnqvist J. , Ehnholm C. Serum cholesterol concentration and mortality from accidents, suicide, and other violent causes . Br Med J 1994;309:445—7.

20.

Paunio M. , Heinonen OP , Virtamo J. , Klag MJ , Manninen V. , Albanes D. , et al. HDL cholesterol and mortality in Finnish men with special reference to alcohol intake. Circulation 1994;90:2909—18.

21.

Harel Y. , Overpeck M. , Jones D. , Scheidt P. , Bijur P. , Trumble A. , et al. The effects of recall on estimating annual nonfatal injury rates for children and adolescents. Am J Public Health 1994;84:599—605.

22.

Hakala P. , Rimpela A. , Salminen JJ , Virtanen SM , Rimpela M. Back, neck, and shoulder pain in Finnish adolescents: National cross sectional surveys. Br Med J 2002;325:743.

Occurrence of violence and violence-related injuries among 12—18 year-old Finns

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References