Purpose-This study examined longitudinal associations between violence involvement, substance use, and sexual activity.
Methods-302 urban Mexican American and EuropeanAmerican adolescents were randomly selected and recruited from the membership lists of a large health maintenance organization. Data were obtained from interviews conducted when the mean ages of adolescents were 15, 18, and 19 years.Results-Independent of age, gender, ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, and previous levels of health risk behavior, adolescents who had been victimized by violence at age 15 were more likely to use tobacco at age 19. Adolescents who had been victimized by or perpetrated violence at age 18 had a greater number of sexual partners and were more likely to use marijuana at age 19. In addition, adolescents who had perpetrated violence at age 18 engaged in greater alcohol use at age 19. A second set of analyses showed that independent of demographics and previous violence involvement, adolescents who had used marijuana at age 15 were more likely to report violence involvement at age 19. Adolescents who had used tobacco or who had a greater number of sexual partners at ages 15 or 18 were more likely to report violent victimization at age 19.Conclusions-Associations between violence involvement and other forms of health risk behavior are bidirectional. Adolescents involved with violence are at risk for increases in substance use and sexual behavior over time. Adolescents who engage in substance use and sexual behavior with multiple partners are also at risk for later violence involvement.Correspondence, Requests for reprints and correspondence should be addressed to Sonya S. Brady, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. , and some data suggests they are more likely to experience negative health consequences of substance use [12]. The present study adds to a small literature examining associations between peer violence and other forms of health risk behavior among Latino youth [6][7]. For example, witnessing community violence was associated with greater lifetime drunkenness and likelihood of using cigarettes and marijuana among a representative sample of students in Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala [6]. Violent victimization was associated with greater opportunities to use marijuana among students in Mexico City [7]. In the present study, we examined longitudinal associations betwe...