Do cognitive, physiological, and psychosocial risk and promotive factors predict desistance from delinquency in males?

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 867-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Loeber ◽  
Dustin A. Pardini ◽  
Magda Stouthamer-Loeber ◽  
Adrian Raine

Relatively few studies have examined cognitive, physiological, and psychosocial promotive and risk factors that can be linked to desistance from delinquency in community samples. This paper reports on a sample of boys first studied at age 7 and then followed up yearly to age 20. Around age 16, most of the boys received a range of cognitive tests; at that time, information regarding their resting heart rate and skin conductance activity in response to aversive stimuli was also collected. Several psychosocial and two cognitive measures distinguished delinquents from nondelinquents around age 16. Among the promotive factors associated with low delinquency were good housing quality, low community crime (parent and youth report), verbal IQ, delayed verbal memory, and sustained attention. Predictive analyses discriminating between desisters and persisters in delinquency between ages 17 and 20 showed that all of the significant predictors were either child or peer risk factors. None of the cognitive, physiological, parenting, or community factors significantly predicted desistance from delinquency. In addition, no promotive factors were significantly related to desistance. The final set of analyses compared persisters, desisters, and nondelinquents in terms of their adult adjustment. Desisters were similar to persisters in that desisters continued to display serious problems in anxiety, failure to graduate from high school, no post high school education, being a nonstudent and unemployed, daily cigarette use, and weekly marijuana use. Desisters scored low on depression and weekly heavy drinking and in these respects were indistinguishable from nondelinquents and better off than persisters.

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana M. Doumas ◽  
Rob Turrisi ◽  
Dale A. Wright

This study examined athletic status and adult attachment as risk factors for high-risk drinking in 249 freshmen. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated attachment avoidance was related positively to high-risk drinking for former high school and collegiate athletes, but related inversely to high-risk drinking for nonathletes. Further, athletes with high attachment avoidance reported the highest levels of heavy drinking and associated consequences. Findings suggest athletes with high attachment avoidance may use drinking as a coping strategy to manage discomfort associated with social situations and this strategy is likely an extension of patterns established in high school. Clinical implications include providing prevention programs for both high school and collegiate athletes, with an emphasis on targeting interpersonal avoidance and discomfort with relationships.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105984052098753
Author(s):  
Sung Hae Kim ◽  
Yoona Choi

Although the rate of sexual intercourse among adolescents has increased in Asian countries, including Korea, many sexually active adolescents still do not use contraception. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors for contraceptive nonuse among adolescents using decision tree analysis of the 2018 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from 2,460 high school students who had an experience of sexual intercourse. The findings indicated that the highest risk group who did not use contraception during sexual intercourse did not receive sexual health education in school and was involved in habitual or purposeful drug use. The experience of ever receiving treatment due to violence and the experience of sexual intercourse after drinking were also identified as risk factors for contraceptive nonuse. To encourage contraceptive use, development of standard sexual health education, counseling, and educational intervention intended to prevent risky behaviors is needed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110283
Author(s):  
Yingwei Yang ◽  
Karen D. Liller ◽  
Martha Coulter ◽  
Abraham Salinas-Miranda ◽  
Dinorah Martinez Tyson ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mutual impact of community and individual factors on youth’s perceptions of community safety, using structural equation modeling (SEM) conceptualized by syndemic theory. This study used survey data collected from a county wide sample of middle and high school students (N=25,147) in West Central Florida in 2015. The outcome variable was youth’s perceptions of community safety. Predictors were latent individual and community factors constructed from 14 observed variables including gun accessibility, substance use, depressive symptoms, and multiple neighborhood disadvantage questions. Three structural equation models were conceptualized based on syndemic theory and analyzed in Mplus 8 using weighted least squares (WLS) estimation. Each model’s goodness of fit was assessed. Approximately seven percent of youth reported feeling unsafe in their community. After model modifications, the final model showed a good fit of the data and adhered to the theoretical assumption. In the final SEM model, an individual latent factor was implied by individual predictors measuring gun accessibility without adult’s permission (β=0.70), sadness and hopelessness (β=0.52), alcohol use (β=0.79), marijuana use (β=0.94), and illegal drug use (β=0.77). Meanwhile, a community latent factor was indicated by multiple community problems including public drinking (β=0.88), drug addiction (β=0.96), drug selling (β=0.97), lack of money (β=0.83), gang activities (β=0.90), litter and trash (β=0.79), graffiti (β=0.91), deserted houses (β=0.86), and shootings (β=0.93). A second-order syndemic factor that represented the individual and community factors showed a very strong negative association with youth’s safe perception (β=-0.98). This study indicates that individual risk factors and disadvantaged community conditions interacted with each other and mutually affected youth’s perceptions of community safety. To reduce these co-occurring effects and improve safe perceptions among youth, researchers and practitioners should develop and implement comprehensive strategies targeting both individual and community factors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 1750005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghorbanali Mohammadi

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most frequent occupational health problems and accounts for a large number of losses in working days and disability for workers in modern industrialized countries. The aim of this paper was to investigate the prevalence of lower back problem and to associate risk factors among high school teachers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among high school teachers using self-administered questionnaires, which were distributed to randomly selected school teachers of 7 boys’ and 10 girls’ high schools across the city of Kerman and collected between October and November 2010. A total of 296 teachers returned completed questionnaires, yielding a response rate of 78.9%. The 12-month prevalence of LBP was 68.8%, which reporting with moderate disability. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that females [odds ratio (OR): 1.85, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.51–2.00] were positively correlated to LBP. Awkward arm posture (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.24–2.62) and awkward body posture (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 0.87–1.49) were significantly associated with LBP. Psychosocial job demands and job dissatisfaction were also significantly associated with LBP. Smoking cigarette was three times more likely to develop lower back pain when compared with non-smokers. The prevalence of LBP was high among high school teachers. A wide variety of LBP risk factors were identified in the current study. The present study indicates that the high prevalence of lower back pain may lose difficulty to teachers in getting to work and “performing” the work required of them, resulting in work absenteeism, which may decrease work productivity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 779-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. Ciao ◽  
Janet D. Latner ◽  
Krista E. Brown ◽  
Daria S. Ebneter ◽  
Carolyn B. Becker

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