Bushover, Brady
(2019)
The relationship between physical and social environments and violence involvement among youth in Allegheny County, PA: a spatial analysis.
Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
Background: Violence disproportionately affects young people and impacts their health outcomes, highlighting the public health importance of youth violence. Features of built and social environments have been shown to be associated with violence risk, however these associations have not been studied in the context of a mid-size city.
Methods: We utilized data from two studies conducted among youth in Allegheny County, PA. Associations between physical environmental contexts and youth violence were studied using data from the Engendering Healthy Masculinities (EHM) study. To investigate associations between both social and environmental contexts and youth violence, we used data from the Healthy Allegheny Teens Survey (HATS). Exposure to built environmental features was defined using participants’ neighborhood study site (EHM) or home address (HATS). In EHM, violence involvement was measured by three survey items: physical fighting, threatening someone with a weapon, and injuring someone with a weapon. The HATS study measured violence involvement by three survey items: being threatened or injured with a weapon, being involved in a physical fight, and getting injured or needing medical treatment from a fight. Logistic regression models separately examined associations between each environmental feature and the violence involvement measures. Within the HATS dataset, additional models examined associations between the social environment, built environment, and violence involvement.
Results: Mean age for EHM was 15.5 years, 78% of participants were African American with 3.7% Caucasian. For HATS, mean age was 16.7 years, 72% were Caucasian with 15.5% African American. From EHM, better neighborhood walkability and higher density of bike lanes were associated with significantly lower odds of fighting (walkability adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.84, 95%CI 0.73-0.96; bike lane AOR=0.90, 95%CI 0.81-1.0). From HATS, higher density of bike lanes was associated with lower odds or being threatened or injured with a weapon (AOR=0.736, 95%CI 0.564-0.961), and increased green space quality was associated with lower odds of getting injured or needing medical treatment from a fight (AOR=0.990, 95%CI 0.980-0.9997).
Discussion: This work extends previous studies from large urban centers to a mid-sized city context and suggests that neighborhood contexts offer opportunities for the development of interventions that may aid in youth violence prevention.
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Details
| Item Type: |
Other Thesis, Dissertation, or Long Paper
(Master Essay)
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| Contributors: |
| Contribution | Contributors Name | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Fabio, Anthony | anthony.fabio@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Culyba, Alison | alison.culyba@chp.edu | ajc204 | UNSPECIFIED |
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| Date: |
26 April 2019 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Number of Pages: |
38 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Epidemiology |
| Degree: |
MPH - Master of Public Health |
| Thesis Type: |
Master Essay |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Date Deposited: |
04 Oct 2019 19:50 |
| Last Modified: |
01 May 2022 05:15 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/36290 |
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