The Concurrence of Sexual Violence and Physical Fight Among Adolescent Suicide Ideators and the Risk of Suicide Attempt

Experiences of sexual violence and physical fight had been identified as independent risk factors for suicidal behaviors among adolescents. The question raises whether the concurrence of these two risk factors further increases the risk of suicidal behaviors among ideators, and by how much the risk increases. This study analyzed data from the 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. Students that reported had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year were included (n=1755). The associations between physical fight/sexual violence status and the risk of suicide attempt/plan/injurious attempt were estimated. The concurrence of physical fight and sexual violence substantially increased the relative risks for attempted suicide (relative risk (RR)=2.01, 95%CI: 1.74, 2.31) and injurious suicide attempt (RR=4.03, 95%CI: 2.81, 5.78; subgroup analyses: among female, RR=3.25, 95%CI: 2.09, 5.04; among male, RR=6.19, 95%CI: 3.3, 12.14). Among students with concurrent physical fight and sexual violence, males reported more risk behaviors (median=14) than females (median=12)(P=0.0023). The concurrence of physical fight and sexual violence substantially increased the risks for attempted suicide among adolescent suicide ideators. A wide variety of risk behaviors clustered with the concurrence of physical fight and sexual violence, especially among males, which possibly lead to the higher rate of injurious suicide attempt among male students.

Theodore and George

Consideration is given to the two major military saints to be associated with dragon fights, Theodore Tyron and George. In contrast to the majority of their saintly peers, they fight their dragons in a duly martial fashion. However, within the span of their narratives, the physical fight itself is typically brief, desultory, and anticlimactic, a coda to a more spiritual battle that has already been won. The two saints’ traditions are contexualized in different ways. The structure and motifs of a fourteenth-century AD account of Theodore’s fight against the Dragon of King Samuel’s City is aligned with those of the dragon fight of a roughly contemporary Byzantine romance, Callimachus and Chrysorrhoe. Whilst the earliest extant narrative of George’s fight against his dragon is relatively late, eleventh-century AD, what today survives as the principal living relic of his dragon-fight, its iconography, can be shown to have its roots in the very beginning of classical antiquity.

Why Don’t Japanese Early Childhood Educators Intervene in Children’s Physical Fights? Some Characteristics of the Mimamoru Approach

This study aims to examine pedagogical meanings of the Mimamoru approach frequently used by Japanese early childhood educators in children’s physical fights. Mimamoru is a strategy in which educators intentionally withhold an intervention, while carefully observing children, to foster children’s voluntary participation in their own learning, socially and cognitively. In this report, we examine why Japanese educators tend not to intervene, and how they determine whether their intervention is necessary. Using methods from Tobin’s video cued multi-vocal ethnography, we conducted focus groups at 9 early childhood education and care facilities (7 in Japan and 2 in the U.S.) with a total of 34 Japanese and 12 U.S. educators. They watched a short video clip in which a mid-career male teacher, one of the Japanese participants, used the Mimamoru approach with two children involved in a physical fight. Educators, then, discussed their interpretations of the teacher’s responses to children. The analyses of the participants’ discussion suggest that educators’ non-intervention, an important feature of the Mimamoru approach, provides children with opportunities to autonomously learn interpersonal skills, for example, through the experiences of feeling guilty and solving problems by themselves. Yet educators do intervene when they determine that the risk of physical harm caused by fighting is greater than the benefit for children to learn. Implications of the Mimamoru approach, including in other cultural contexts, are discussed.

Why Don’t Japanese Early Childhood Educators Intervene in Children’s Physical Fights? Some Characteristics of the Mimamoru Approach

This study aims to examine pedagogical meanings of the Mimamoru approach frequently used by Japanese early childhood educators in children’s physical fights. Mimamoru is a strategy in which educators intentionally withhold an intervention, while carefully observing children, to foster children’s voluntary participation in their own learning, socially and cognitively. In this report, we examine why Japanese educators tend not to intervene, and how they determine whether their intervention is necessary. Using methods from Tobin’s video cued multi-vocal ethnography, we conducted focus groups at 9 early childhood education and care facilities (7 in Japan and 2 in the U.S.) with a total of 34 Japanese and 12 U.S. educators. They watched a short video clip in which a mid-career male teacher, one of the Japanese participants, used the Mimamoru approach with two children involved in a physical fight. Educators, then, discussed their interpretations of the teacher’s responses to children. The analyses of participants’ discussion suggest that educators’ non-intervention, an important feature of the Mimamoru approach, provides children with opportunities to autonomously learn interpersonal skills, for example, through the experiences of feeling guilty and solving problems by themselves. Yet educators do intervene when they determine that the risk of physical harm caused by fighting is greater than the benefit for children to learn. Implications of the Mimamoru approach, including in other cultural contexts, are discussed.

Factors associated with physical and sexual violence among school-going adolescents in Nepal: Findings from Global School-based Student Health Survey

Background Globally violence is a matter of public health concern with severe physical and mental health implications and social consequences. Evidence suggest that adolescents have an elevated risk of exposure to physical and sexual violence. However, there is a lack of nationally representative research on violence and its associated factors in Nepal to inform interventions. This paper attempts to find the factors associated with various forms of physical and sexual violence among school-going adolescents in Nepal. Methods We analysed the cross-sectional data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2015. The GSHS survey applied a two-stage cluster sampling process to select a representative sample of 7 to 11 grade students from 74 schools across the country. We applied logistic regression analysis to identify the factors associated with physical and sexual violence. Results Out of the total 6,529 participants, 45.24% of them faced a physical attack, 39.25% were involved in a physical fight, and 11.65% were victims of sexual violence in the survey administered between 7 August 2015 to 14 March 2016. In a multiple regression analysis, the age of participants, parental supervision, feeling unsafe at school, and the number of close friends were found to be associated with a physical attack. Participants who were bullied, had multiple sex partners, and had received corporal punishment in school had a higher engagement in a physical fight. Likewise, school grade, having parents who understand the problems, having multiple sex partners, and corporal punishment at school were associated with instances of sexual violence. Conclusion The study identified multiple factors associated with experiences of physical attacks, involvement in a physical fight, and sexual violence among school-going adolescents. This study results can have important implications for school administration, parents, and policymakers alike to plan appropriate anti-violence strategies and interventions. Since various forms of violence share some common risk factors, a comprehensive strategy could be worth considering to prevent such acts of violence.

Serious Injury and its Correlates among School Going Adolescents in Nepal: A cross-sectional study

Background: Injury-related mortality and morbidity, a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, is common among adolescents. However, there is insufficient information on the status and factors responsible for injury among adolescents in Nepal. Hence, the paper estimates the injury prevalence and identify the factors associated with it among adolescent Nepalese students. Methods: This study used national representative cross-sectional data of the Global School-based Student Health Survey 2015. Complex sample analysis was performed after adjusting the selection probability of each sample participants to identify the correlates of injury among 6529 students of 68 schools in Nepal. Results: Out of 6529 study participants, 62.79% reported severe injury. The most common injury type was cut or stab wound (67.61%) followed by broken bone/dislocated joints (11.03%) and the most common cause of injury was fall (56.40%). Serious injury was significantly associated with a physical attack (AOR=1.54, CI=1.17-2.04), being involved in a physical fight (AOR=1.62, CI=1.2-2.2), being bullied (AOR=2.73, CI=2.25-3.31), feeling unsafe at school (AOR=1.53, CI=1.23-1.91), helmet use(never/rarely/sometimes) while driving a motorbike (AOR=1.69, CI=1.21-2.38) and drink and drive(AOR=2.28, CI=1.05-4.96). Conclusions: This study reported the injury as a significant public health concern in Nepal associated with several factors like physical attack, being involved in a physical fight, being bullied, feeling unsafe at school, helmet use while driving motorbike and drink and drive. The high prevalence of injury in Nepal suggests the application of appropriate prevention strategies. Keywords: Adolescents; injury; Nepal

Alcohol Use and Misuse Among School-Going Adolescents in Thailand: Results of a National Survey in 2015

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of alcohol use and misuse, and to identify its associated factors among in-school adolescents in the 2015 Thailand Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). The sample included 5994 school-going adolescents (mean age 14.5 years, SD = 1.7) from Thailand that responded to the 2015 GSHS. Overall, 22.2% were current alcohol users, 24.3% had ever been drunk, 12.1% had drunk two or more alcoholic drinks in a day in the past 30 days and 10.8% had gotten into trouble because of drinking alcohol. In adjusted Poisson regression analysis, older age, psychological distress, current tobacco use, the consumption of one or more soft drinks a day, school truancy, having been in a physical fight in the past 12 months, and having been seriously injured in the past 12 months were associated with current alcohol use. Older age, psychological distress, current tobacco use and injury also increased the odds for lifetime drunkenness, having two or more drinks in a day and trouble resulting from drinking. Soft drink consumption and having been in a physical fight also increased the odds for lifetime drunkenness and having two or more drinks in a day and school truancy also increased the odds for lifetime drunkenness and trouble resulting from drinking. In addition. Parental tobacco use was associated with lifetime drunkenness and trouble resulting from drinking, cannabis use with trouble resulting from drinking, and parental support was protective from trouble resulting from drinking. There were no significant sex differences regarding any of the four alcohol use indicators. More than one in five school-going adolescents in Thailand use and misuse alcohol, and strategies to prevent alcohol misuse, including a cluster of risk behaviours, are needed.

Bullying and Its Associated Factors among School-Aged Adolescents in Thailand

The aim of this study were to assess bullying and its associated factors in school-going adolescents in Thailand. Using data from the Thailand Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2008, the prevalence of being bullied and its associated factors among adolescents(N=2758)was assessed. The study found an overall prevalence of being bullied on one or more days during the past 30 days of 27.8%, 32.9% among males and 23.2% among females. The predominant forms of being bullied were among boys being hit, kicked, pushed, shoved around, or locked indoors and among girls making fun of with sexual jokes, comments, and gestures. Among boys risk factors for having been bullied were younger age (adjusted odds ratio to (AOR): 0.34; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18–0.65), having been in a physical fight (AOR: 3.64; 95% CI: 2.84–4.66), being physically inactive (AOR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.04–2.15), truancy (AOR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.13–2.45), and psychosocial distress (AOR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.14–3.74), and among girls risk factors for having been bullied were having been in a physical fight (AOR: 2.91; 95% CI: 2.00–4.24), lack of parental bonding (AOR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.51–0.99), and psychosocial distress (AOR: 2.37; 95% CI: 1.39–4.03). Results may inform school health programmes on the prevalence and correlates of bullying among adolescents in Thailand.

Prevalence and correlates of physical fighting among school-going adolescents in Santiago, Chile

OBJECTIVE: There is a growing interest in injury as a public health issue across the world. There is paucity of data on the prevalence and social correlates of non-fatal interpersonal violence in low- and middle-income income nations. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of, and associated factors for physical fighting among school-going adolescents in Santiago, Chile. METHOD: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Chilean Global School-Based Health Survey conducted in 2004 in Santiago. We aimed to assess the prevalence and social correlates of having been involved in a physical fight in the prior 12 months. RESULTS: Of the 2111 respondents, 40.7% (54.3% males and 26.6% females) reported having been in a physical fight in the prior 12 months. Males were more likely to have been in a physical fight than females [OR = 3.89, 95% CI (3.11, 4.85)]. Substance use (cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and using drugs) and bullying victimization were positively associated with fighting [OR = 3.05, 95% CI (2.40, 3.87) for substance use, and OR = 1.65, 95% CI (1.32, 2.05) for bullying]. Parental supervision was negatively associated with physical fighting [OR = 0.62, 95% CI (0.50, 0.78)]. CONCLUSION: We have estimated the prevalence of having engaged in a physical fight among in-school adolescents in Santiago, Chile. We have found that the prevalence is similar to what has been reported in diverse settings in Africa, Europe and North America.