Peer activity in the evenings and participation in aggressive and problem behaviors
Received 4 August 2004; accepted 14 December 2004.
Abstract
Purpose
Low adult supervision during the after-school hours has been associated with numerous problem behaviors among youth. We examined the extent to which this relationship pertains to the evening hours and aggressive behaviors.
Methods
Cross-sectional self-report data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 14,818 youth in grades 6–10 in the 2001–2002 Health Behaviors of School-aged Children Survey. The relationship between spending evenings out with friends and involvement in problem behaviors was examined using logistic regression analyses.
Results
One-fifth of U.S. youth surveyed reportedly spent five or more evenings out with friends each week. After adjusting for grade, race/ethnicity, parental education, parental involvement, and perception of neighborhood safety, boys and girls who reported spending five or more evenings out were 4.3 and 3.1 times, respectively, than boys and girls who spent less than two evenings out, more likely to be involved in four or more physical fights in the past year; 3.0 and 4.0 times, respectively, more likely to have bullied another at least once a week at school; 2.7 and 4.9 times, respectively, more likely to have carried a weapon 6 or more days in the past month; 3.8 and 4.8 times, respectively, more likely to consume alcohol at least once a month; and 3.3 and 7.2 times, respectively, more likely to have smoked every day.
Conclusions
Although the majority of youth who spend most evenings out do not frequently participate in problem behaviors (69.7%), their consistently increased risk for substance use and aggressive behaviors warrants attention. Further examination of specific evening activities, extracurricular involvement, neighborhood context, adult supervision, and parental monitoring is required.
aJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
bMaternal and Child Health Bureau, Office of Data and Program Development, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland
cNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, Bethesda, Maryland
Address correspondence to: Dr. Julia C. Gage, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Box 346, Baltimore, MD 21205.
ABSTRACT