Depression, peers top influences on youth violence

	Tweet

Kids who are depressed and have delinquents for friends may be the most likely to lash out violently at others, according to a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics.

The amount of time a youth spent watching violent TV or playing violent video games didn’t have anything to do with whether he or she would commit violent acts in real life, Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson of Texas A&M University and his colleagues found.

Ferguson and his team also found that while kids whose parents were psychologically abusive to their intimate partners were more likely to engage in violence, being exposed to a parent’s physical abuse of a partner wasn’t a factor.

Overall, the researchers found, the factors that did increase the risk of violent behavior had pretty small effects. Based on the findings, they say, future research should probably look at groups of risk factors, rather than focusing on a single one.

A lot of media attention tends to get focused on individual factors, like playing violent video games, Ferguson noted, even when there’s no evidence that they’re connected with violent behavior.

He and his colleagues investigated the interplay among various risk factors for violent behavior by looking at 603 children 10 to 14 years old and their parents or guardians. Most of the children were Hispanic. Fifteen percent of the children said they had committed non-violent crimes, while 12 percent said they had taken part in violent criminal behavior.

As mentioned, the strongest risk factors for violent behavior were depression and having delinquent peers, the researchers found. Others included a parent’s psychological abuse of a partner, antisocial personality, negative relationships with adults, and family conflict.

Based on the findings, Ferguson said it probably makes sense to target programs to prevent youth violence at “depressed kids who are hanging out with other kids who are probably in the same boat.”

The good news, he added, is that youth violence has been going down in the US since the late 1960s. “Things are improving for youth globally for the most part, contrary to what most people think today,” Ferguson said.

SOURCE: The Journal of Pediatrics, December 2009.

RELATED STORIES:
Antidepressants don’t affect post-birth weight loss   Women Given Specialized Treatment Half as Likely to Attempt Suicide   Certain psychiatric disorders linked with risky sexual behavior in teens   Two-pronged approach best for hair-pulling disorder   Study finds genetic link between sleep disorders and depression in young children   Combination of Medication and Psychotherapy Appears Most Effective for Treatment of Depressed Teens   Happy People Are Healthier, Carnegie Mellon Psychologist Says   Treating substance abuse and depression effective   Steroids may relieve social and spider phobias   Post Traumatic Stress Has Trebled Among Combat-exposed Military Personnel   Lower Levels of Physical Performance Associated with Increased Risk of Dementia   The link between fast food and depression has been confirmed   Mental tests reveal fall risk for older Australians   Depression in kids may precede or follow bullying   Feeling Good: the New Mood Therapy

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

Hello my name is John Boone and I recently read your article on how depression affects kids. I am a junior studying Mathematics at Shaw University. My reason for commenting is because of a recent research paper that was assigned to our English 113 class. The research paper deals with the black youth and violence. The violence portion focuses on Derrion Albert’s case and ways to stop it. I was greatly moved by the influences that peers have on other children just as was mentioned about depression. My English professor is Dr. D. Justice and his email address is djustice@shawu.edu if you would like to send him any comments. In this paper my chosen audience were the parents of the black youth. I chose this audience because even though they are doing the parenting I don’t think they realize to what extent of influence and pressure these peers are placing on their children. My claim in the paper is that the black youth are greatly influenced by their peers. These peers that I make reference to are the youth who cause mischief and trouble; and who cause the stereotype upon black people to be further hindered. Influences I included were their bad attitude, their peer pressure, and their role modeling. First of all their bad attitude influences the youth to act as they do. Many people could agree that negative behavior is something that they could deal without. On top of that, the attitude of a person determines where they will head in life. Secondly, I talked about the peer pressure. Peer pressure remains as very influential. When kids see somebody else doing something then they will likely try and participate as well. Lastly, I talked about their role modeling. Many of the youth are bad examples of role models because of their inexperience and attitudes. The lack of fathers and positive role models doesn’t make it any better. I feel that this influence of these delinquents need to be stopped before things get worse. Thank You.

posted by John Boone on 12/05/2009 at 10:50 am -08:00