NCJ Number
244501
Journal
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume: 43 Issue: 2, Supplement 1 Dated: August 2012 Pages: S24-S27
Date Published
August 2012
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the interaction between risk and direct protective factors and their effect on youth violence.
Abstract
This paper, produced by members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Expert Panel on Protective Factors for Youth Violence Prevention, discusses the interaction between risk and direct protective factors and their effect on youth violence. The paper also discusses initial steps taken to develop four studies that could examine whether there is a linear or nonlinear association between the predictor of violence and the later development of violence. To determine whether a certain variable, or predictor, tended to act as a risk factor or a direct protective factor, the studies would use a method of trichotomization to allow for comparison of both ends of the distribution with the middle group, on a given variable. The next step in the process was to identify datasets and collaborators who would be willing to conduct joint analyses to distinguish between risk and direct protective factors, and to resolve issues surrounding definitions of variables, the selection of predictor variables and core variables, and the selection of the control variables used in the regression analyses. The last section of the paper discusses a set of key questions that the studies addressed, such as which direct protective factors predict a low likelihood of youth violence, which risk factors predict a high likelihood of youth violence, and which variables operate primarily as direct protective factors rather than as risk factors. Figures and references