Disaster and Youth Violence: The Experience of School-Attending Youth in New Orleans

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health 2011-08, Vol.49 (2), p.213-215
• Main Authors: Madkour, Aubrey S., Ph.D, Johnson, Carolyn C., Ph.D, Clum, Gretchen A., Ph.D, Brown, Lisanne, Ph.D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aggression; Behavior Modification; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Composition; Cyclonic Storms - statistics & numerical data; Demographics; Disaster; Disasters; Disasters - statistics & numerical data; Ethnicity; Female; Humans; Hurricane Katrina; Juvenile delinquents; Male; Medical sciences; Multivariate Analysis; New Orleans; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pediatrics; Population Characteristics; Prevalence; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk-Taking; Schools; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Students; Students - statistics & numerical data; Violence; Violence - statistics & numerical data; Youth
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.06.005

Abstract Purpose Although disaster exposure has been linked with increased child aggression by previous reports, population-level trends are unknown. Pre- to post-Katrina changes in violence-related behaviors among New Orleans high school youth (ages: 12–18 years) were assessed. Methods Data from the 2003 (pre-Katrina), 2005 (pre-Katrina), and 2007 (post-Katrina) New Orleans Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 5,267) were used. Crude comparisons across years of population characteristics and violence behavior prevalence were made with χ2 analyses. Changes in violence-related behaviors over time were assessed with logistic regression models including indicators for survey years and controls for compositional changes. Results Age, gender, and race/ethnicity of school-attending youth were stable across years. In models controlling for demographics, most behaviors were stable over time. Some changes were observed for all groups; dating violence and forced sex increased before the storm, whereas weapon-carrying and missing school as a result of feeling unsafe decreased after the storm. Among African American adolescents only, being threatened at school increased before Katrina. Conclusions Results do not support significant population-level increases in violent behavior post-Katrina among school-attending youth in New Orleans. Factors that buffered New Orleans students from post-Katrina violence increases, such as population composition changes or increased supportive services, may explain these findings.