Challenges in studying statewide pedestrian injuries and drug involvement

Teens involved with drugs and engaged in delinquent behavior lessen their life chances. This article examines the relationship between early illicit drug exposure, delinquency, and subsequent adult experience through the life history accounts of 31 men who are homeless drug addicts today. The men's retrospective reports link personal history and social circumstance to describe common pathways associated with and emerging from adolescent delinquency and drug involvement. Their accounts, framed within the social development model, indicate that the life chances of teens at risk might improve if policy-based solutions and interventions target and ameliorate contextual and interpersonal risk factors interfering with the accumulation of social capital.

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The Role of the Physical and Traffic Environment in Child Pedestrian Injuries

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.98.6.1096 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 98 (6) ◽

pp. 1096-1103

Author(s):

Phyllis F. Agran ◽

Diane G. Winn ◽

Craig L. Anderson ◽

Cecile Tran ◽

Celeste P. Del Valle

Keyword(s):

Injury Risk ◽

Population Based ◽

Traffic Volume ◽

Vehicular Traffic ◽

Single Family ◽

Pedestrian Injury ◽

Vehicular Speed ◽

Pedestrian Injuries ◽

And Gender ◽

Rate Ratios

Objective. To identify environmental risk factors on residential streets for pediatric pedestrian injuries. Method. The sample consisted of 39 Latino children 0 to 14 years of age injured as pedestrians on a street in the same block as their home and 62 randomly selected neighborhood control subjects matched to the case by city, age or year of birth, ethnicity, and gender. The cases were identified from a population-based hospital and coroner's office surveillance system established in north-central Orange County, CA. Neighborhood assessments were performed from 3:45 PM to 5 PM, a fairly active time for young pedestrians. The cases were compared with the controls using conditional logistic regressions; in this study design, the odds ratios were interpreted as estimates of the incidence rate ratios. Results. Children living in a multifamily residence had an incidence of injury greater than that of children living in single-family residence on a single lot (odds ratio [OR] 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-7.6). The ORs in the highest category were several times those in the lowest category for both parked vehicles (OR 9.6, 95% CI 2.6-36) and total number of pedestrians observed (OR 4.7, 95% CI 1.4-16). Vehicle parking, total pedestrians, vehicular traffic volume, and speed were examined in a multivariate model. The association of vehicles parked on the street with pedestrian injury risk remained significant. Unlike the crude results, progressively greater vehicular speed was associated with a marked increase in risk. Progressively higher vehicular traffic volume was associated with a progressively lower adjusted OR. Conclusion. The results of this analysis would indicate that residential streets with a high proportion of multifamily residences, over 50% of the curb occupied with parked vehicles, and a large number of pedestrians observed in unenclosed areas should receive high priority for intervention programs to reduce pediatric pedestrian injuries. The analysis suggests that on these streets, measures to reduce the amount of street parking (thus increasing visibility) and reductions in vehicular speed should be considered to decrease pedestrian injuries.

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Drug Use, Drug Trafficking, and Weapon Carrying Among Low-Income, African-American, Early Adolescent Boys

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.93.6.1065 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 93 (6) ◽

pp. 1065-1072

Author(s):

Maureen M. Black ◽

Izabel B. Ricardo

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Low Income ◽

Drug Trafficking ◽

Early Adolescent ◽

Weapon Carrying ◽

Risk Practices ◽

Drug Involvement ◽

Drug Activities

Objective. To examine relationships involving three extremely high-risk behaviors (drug use, drug trafficking, and weapon carrying) among low-income, urban, African-American early adolescent boys using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Method. The quantitative phase included 192 African-American boys from 9 through 15 years of age recruited from recreation centers located in low-income communities. Youth completed a survey addressing personal risk practices; intentions to engage in risk practices; risk taking among family, friends and community; and values toward risk practices. They also completed standardized assessments of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and parent-child communication. All questionnaires were self-administered through MacIntosh computers programmed to present questions aurally and visually. The qualitative phase included 12 African-American youth from low-income, urban families. The youth participated in 60- to 90-minute interviews regarding drug activities and violence. Results. Most boys (73%) were not involved in either drug activities or weapon carrying. Boys who were involved in drug activities or weapon carrying were often involved in other high-risk activities (cigarette and alcohol use, school failure and expulsion) and had low rates of adaptive communication with their parents. The boys reported high rates of drug involvement by their family, friends, and community. However, psychological and interpersonal factors were better predictors of individual risk activities than community or family variables. Personal values regarding economics predicted drug trafficking. More than 56% of the boys who reported past involvement in drug activities did not anticipate future involvement. Conclusions. Multilevel strategies are necessary to prevent involvement in drug activities and weapon carrying. Intervention programs should begin early and should promote communication between parents and children, adaptive behavior in school, and avoidance of cigarette and alcohol use. Community-level interventions are needed to alter the myth that drug involvement and weapon carrying are normative and to promote images that are less materialistic and more supportive of education and future-oriented activities.

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