Understanding Weapon Carrying Behaviors of Youth in Florida Schools Using Structural Equation Modeling

Liller

Tyson

et al. 2021

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Purpose A safe environment is critical for adolescents’ well-being. The purpose of this photovoice study is to explore reasons that make adolescents feel safe in their community. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted in Florida through both online and in-person recruitment. After a training session on the ethical and technical use of cameras and a brief introduction of the photovoice methodology, six adolescents took photos (n = 66) in their community and discussed their photos guided by the revised SHOWeD framework. Abridged transcripts were used to match photos with corresponding discussions. Thematic analysis was conducted by the research team. Findings This study identified four main themes related to adolescents’ safe perceptions, including community protective factors (n = 22 photos) such as safe physical environments and community cohesion; family protective factors (n = 14 photos) including safe home and caring parents; traffic safety (n = 14 photos), such as proper road signs, seat belts for car safety and helmets and locks for bicycle safety; and public safety (n = 8 photos), such as emergency numbers, fire departments and police cars and officers. Research limitations/implications Due to the limited number of participants, this study did not compare the similarities and differences of safety perceptions between adolescents living in high crime areas (urban communities) and those in low crime areas (suburban and rural communities). Future photovoice studies are recommended to further explore the influential factors associated with adolescents’ perceived community safety in urban and rural areas with different levels of crime rates to provide more evidence on targeted strategies for community safety promotion in each area. Practical implications By exploring the reasons for adolescents’ safe feelings in their community using photovoice, this study provides insights for future intervention programs to promote community safety for children and adolescents from the community, family, traffic and societal perspectives. Social implications This photovoice study not only empowers adolescents to identify community assets related to their safe perceptions but also illustrates valuable insights for researchers and public health professionals for safety promotion. Originality/value This study has used a broad research question to explore the reasons that make adolescents feel safe, providing them the opportunities to express their opinions by photo taking and photo discussions. Moreover, rich information at the community, family and societal levels has been collected as related to factors contributing to adolescents’ safe perceptions, adding to the literature on community safety. In addition, this photovoice study has offered both in-person and online participation. Such combination not only provides adolescents with an opportunity to choose a participation method that works best for them but also adds to the photovoice methodology by extending the data collection from in-person to online.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“I don’t feel any danger because I am in my own community”: a photovoice study on adolescents’ perceived community safety

Liller

Tyson

et al. 2021

Self Cite

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Data used in this study was collected online in 2015 from students in grades 6-12 in all public schools in Hillsborough County, with 100 students per grade level (Yang et al, 2020). Over 26,000 surveys ( N = 26,515) were returned, achieving a response rate of 88.6% (Yang et al, 2020). Considering the sampling method and sample size, the respondents were representative of students in public middle and high schools in Hillsborough County in Florida.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Community and Individual Risk Factors Mutually Impact Youth’s Perceived Safety: A Syndemic Analysis Using Structural Equation Modeling

Liller

Coulter

et al. 2021

J Interpers Violence

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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.

“…SEM is a multivariate statistical method with the capacity to identify latent factors that represent multiple predictors via confirmatory factor analysis and measure their correlations via path analysis (Kline, 2016). This advanced statistical method has been applied to studies on youth risk behaviors and mental health issues to measure the cumulative impact of multiple predictors (Yang, 2023; Yang et al, 2020; Yang, Liller, Coulter et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a Syndemic Framework and Structural Equation Modeling to Assess the Co-occurrence and Mutual Impact of Violence Experiences and Substance Use Behaviors Among Adolescents

2023

J Interpers Violence

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Adolescents are at particular risk for multiple violence experiences and substance use behaviors. The extent to which the two clusters of experiences correlate with each other remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to assess the co-occurrence and mutual impact of violence experiences and substance use behaviors in adolescents using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on syndemic theory. This study utilized data collected by 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey from a nationally representative sample ( N = 13,677). Bivariate associations and correlations between four forms of violence experiences (weapon threats, sexual violence, dating violence, and bullying) and three types of substance use behaviors (e-cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and marijuana use) were examined. Two SEM models were built to measure the correlation between the two clusters of variables. The results showed that 36.8% of adolescents experienced at least one form of violence in the past year (22.0% one form, 8.9% two forms, and 5.9% three or more forms) and 42.4% reported one or more types of substance use in the past month (16.3% one type, 14.0% two types, and 12.1% three types). Youths with multiple violence experiences were three to four times more likely to report substance use, and those using three types of substances were two to six times more likely to report violence victimization. All examined associations and correlations between violence experiences and substance use behaviors were statistically significant. In the final SEM model, the four violence variables indicated a syndemic factor and the three substance use variables indicated another syndemic factor. The two syndemic factors were positively correlated (β = .43, p < .05), with 19% of variance being explained by each other. Findings in this study highlight the needs for comprehensive prevention efforts to address the co-occurring and mutually reinforced situation between violence experiences and substance use behaviors in the youth population. Targeted intervention programs and mental health services are needed for adolescents with multiple violence experiences and concurrent substance use behaviors.