Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Homicide a Leading Cause of Death for Kids, Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Homicide has become a leading killer of children, with guns being the most common weapon used in their deaths, a recent study shows.

The overall rate of homicides in children has grown about 4.3% each year for a decade, with a steep rise seen between 2019 and 2020, when the number of kids who died by homicide rose 27.7%.

Firearm-related homicides rose 47.7% between 2019 and 2020, according to the study by researchers at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Georgia State University's School of Public Health. The findings were published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Black male teens were impacted most: The homicide rate for Black males ages 16 to 17 was 18 times higher than that for white males and 4.6 times higher than for Hispanic males.

While the increases weren't surprising, "that doesn't mean they're not alarming," Dr. Elinore Kaufman, an assistant professor in the department of surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNN.

More than 38,000 U.S. children were homicide victims between 1999 and 2020, the researchers found using National Vital Statistics System's mortality data. This includes death certificates for U.S. residents and the National Violent Death Reporting System.

In a separate study published in the same journal, researchers found rates of firearm injuries seen at children's hospitals had grown significantly in 2020 and 2021. They increased by 52%, from 1,815 between April 2018 and December 2019, compared to 2,759 from April 20 through December 2021.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/homicide-a-leading-cause-of-death-for-kids-teens-2658985052.html

Eliminating Sexual Violence Could Reduce Poor Mental Health Among Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

The prevalence of serious mental health problems among 17-year-olds could drop by as much as 16.8% for girls and 8.4% for boys if they were not subjected to sexual violence, such as sexual assault and harassment, according to estimates from UCL researchers.

The new research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, uses information from 9,971 young people born across the UK in 2000-02, who are being followed by the Millennium Cohort Study. At the age of 17, just over 1,000 girls and 260 boys reported they had experienced sexual assault or an unwelcome sexual approach in the previous 12 months.

The researchers found that rates of two serious mental health problems—severe psychological distress and self-harm—were higher, on average, among victims than among those who did not report experiencing sexual assault or harassment by at this age. This was true even when taking into account a wide range of other factors known to affect teenagers' risk of experiencing sexual violence and mental ill health.

The authors calculated that in a hypothetical scenario where sexual assault and harassment were eliminated, rates of self-harm among teenage girls might drop by 16.8%—from the current level of 28.9% in a world with these forms of sexual violence to 24% (a five-percentage point reduction) in a world without. Additionally, high levels of psychological distress might drop by 14% (22.6% vs. 19.5%).

Among boys, the researchers anticipated rates of self-harm could drop by 8.4% (20.3% vs. 18.6%) and severe psychological distress by 3.7% (10.2% vs. 9.8%) if sexual assault and harassment were eradicated.

The authors noted several limitations of their study. Sexual violence is known to be underreported, and the authors recognize that teenagers with and without serious mental health problems may differ in their likelihood of reporting such experiences.

Finally, as this is an observational study, the authors noted the challenges in establishing cause and effect. The study makes use of very detailed data to account for a wide range of factors that may have influenced the link between experiences of sexual assault and harassment and serious mental health problems. However, it would be impossible to rule out with certainty the influence of every possible factor.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-sexual-violence-poor-mental-health.html

Classroom Insecurity: 1 in 3 Teens Worldwide Don’t Feel Safe in Their Own School

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

A new study from Finland’s University of Turku finds adolescents around the globe fear for their safety with one in three saying they feel unsafe in their own school.

Overall, their survey of more than 21,000 teens between 13 and 15 discovered that 31.4 percent feel unsafe at school. Importantly, these children did not come from the United States, researchers surveyed adolescents from 13 nations throughout Europe and Asia between 2011 and 2017.

On one end of the spectrum, two in three children in Japan say they feel unsafe when they go to class, with 69.8 percent of girls and 68.2 percent of boys saying this. On the opposite end, just 11.5 percent of girls in Finland and 7.7 percent of boys in Norway fear going to school.

The study found that if a student feels their teacher cares about them, they’re more likely to feel safe in school. Fair, clear, and consistent rules while in class also contributed to a student’s feeling of safety.

Meanwhile, students who experience bullying reported feeling less safe on school grounds. Researchers add that the result of feeling less safe at school can lead to mental health problems, which stay with a child throughout their life.

“Physically, cognitively and emotionally safe school environment is essential for the development and educational success of children and young people. All children have the right to attend schools where they can feel safe and protected without fear or anxiety of any danger. In the wake of recent school shootings, we must take steps to enhance safety in educational settings and protect students from all forms of violence and abuse,” said research leader Dr. Andre Sourander.

Source: StudyFinds
https://www.studyfinds.org/teens-dont-feel-safe-in-school/

Being Bullied Often Leads Teens to Thoughts of Violence

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Bullied and mistreated teens are much more likely to fantasize about hurting or killing others, a new study warns.

"One way to think about fantasies is as our brain rehearsing future scenarios," said lead author Manuel Eisner, director of the University of Cambridge Violence Research Center in the U.K.

His research included more than 1,400 young people in Zurich, Switzerland, who were asked about their thoughts and experiences at ages 15, 17, and 20. Among other things, they were asked whether they'd had violent thoughts in the last month, and the types of bullying or aggression they had faced in the past year.

Researchers also asked about participants' experiences with 23 forms of victimization, including taunts, physical attacks, and sexual harassment by peers; aggressive parenting such as yelling and slapping; and dating violence such as being pressured into sex.

Most reported at least one type of victimization. But being subjected to a range of mistreatment was closely linked with increased thinking about killing, attacking, or humiliating others.

Boys were generally more likely to have violent thoughts, but the effect of multiple types of victimization on violent fantasies was similar in both boys and girls.

The rate of violent fantasies in the last month among 17-year-old boys who had not been victimized in the preceding year was 56%. Every additional type of mistreatment increased the probability of violent fantasies by up to 8%.

Those who reported five forms of victimization had an 85% likelihood of having had violent fantasies. That rose to 97% among those who reported 10 forms of victimization.

Among 17-year-old girls, violent fantasy probability was 23% among those who reported no victimization; 59% among those who reported five types of mistreatment; and 73% in those who said they had suffered 10.

The influence of victimization on violent fantasies didn't lessen as study participants grew up, suggesting that the intensity of this mental health effect may not fade, according to the authors of the study published in the journal Aggressive Behavior.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/b-4-28-being-bullied-often-leads-teens-to-thoughts-of-violence-2652792928.html

Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence Twice as Likely to Have Poorer Health

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on MedicalXpress.

A new study has found up to half of all children with language difficulties and mental and physical health problems have been exposed to intimate partner violence, prompting calls for health and social care services to provide more effective identification and early intervention.

The research, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, showed children exposed to intimate partner violence from infancy were twice as likely to have a psychiatric diagnosis, emotional and behavioral difficulties, and impaired language skills at age 10. They were also more likely to have asthma and sleep problems.

The study also found that children exposed to intimate partner violence in the year they turned 10 were two to three times more likely to experience poor mental health, elevated blood pressure, and sleep difficulties. But with the exception of language difficulties and asthma, child health outcomes at age 10 were not affected if their only exposure to intimate partner violence occurred before they turned five.

The research involved 1507 first-time mothers and their first-born children. Women were recruited to the study from six public maternity hospitals in Melbourne. More than one in four women and children in the study were exposed to intimate partner violence during the first 10 years after the child's birth.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-children-exposed-intimate-partner-violence.html

Domestic Violence Cases Spike After Covid-19

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Medical Daily.

After the pandemic was declared in March, the U.S. government issued orders to enforce social distancing, closure of schools and prohibition of large gatherings. These measures affected crime rates and distribution across the country.

Burglary of homes was reduced due to people spending more time indoors, not giving opportunities to thieves. However, domestic violence increased with more contact between violent family members and their victims in the U.S.

A recent study led by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), examined the types of crimes that increased during the quarantine. The team focused on two cities, namely Los Angeles and Indianapolis, after the restrictions were implemented on schools, restaurants, and bars from March 16 onwards. While stay-at-home orders were announced on March 20 in Los Angeles, it was enforced on March 24 in Indianapolis.

Upon examination of phone calls received by the police between January 2 and April 18  in Los Angeles and from January 2 to April 21 in Indianapolis, it was found that shelter-in-place rules caused an increase in calls reporting domestic violence. Researchers proceeded to scan crime statistics on investigations conducted by the police.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, both Los Angeles and Indianapolis already have seen significant increases in domestic violence calls to the police, and we know domestic violence is one of the crimes least reported to the police," Jeffrey Brantingham, the study's senior author and UCLA professor of anthropology, said in the news release.

Source: Medical Daily
https://www.medicaldaily.com/los-angeles-indianapolis-witness-spike-domestic-violence-cases-after-covid-19-453947

Gay, Lesbian Teens at High Odds for Physical, Sexual Abuse

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

The warning stems from surveys of nearly 29,000 teens, aged 14 to 18, conducted in 2015 and 2017 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overall, LGBQ teens (lesbian, gay, bisexual and teens who are questioning their sexuality) face roughly twice the risk of physical violence compared with straight youth, the surveys revealed. And that risk can come from a romantic partner -- or anyone else.

Lead author Theodore Caputi said the study is the first to use a recent, nationally representative sample to gauge the scope of physical and sexual violence among LGBQ teens. He described the findings as "striking."

Caputi is a research consultant with the Health Equity Research Lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

"Unfortunately, physical and sexual violence are commonplace in the daily lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning adolescents," he said.

Over one in 10 LGBQ teens reported intimate partner violence in the past year, Caputi said. And more than one in five said they had been sexually assaulted.

"Given the severe physical, mental and emotional health consequences of violence victimhood, this high prevalence represents a public health crisis," he said.

In both 2015 and 2017, survey respondents were asked to indicate their sexual orientation, and whether they had experienced violence in the prior year at the hands of a partner or someone else. In 2017, participants were also asked if they had been sexually assaulted.

In total, about 87% of respondents identified as straight, just over 2% as gay or lesbian, 7% as bisexual and nearly 4% said they were unsure.

Lesbian and bisexual girls had nearly twice the risk for engaging in a physical fight, either at school or elsewhere, compared with straight girls, the surveys revealed.

Gay and bisexual boys, meanwhile, appeared to be particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. They faced nearly five times the risk for sexual assault or forced intercourse, compared to their straight peers, the findings showed.

Meanwhile, teens who identified as bisexual were found to face a high risk for both physical violence in an intimate relationship and sexual assault in general.

Caputi stressed that his team did not investigate the specific underlying causes.

The findings were published online as a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/violence-health-news-787/gay-lesbian-teens-at-high-odds-for-physical-sexual-abuse-755616.html

Deaths Due to Suicide, Homicide on the Rise Among U.S. Youth

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

More teens and young adults are coming to a violent end in recent years, either at their own hand or another's, new federal data show.

Both suicide and homicide death rates are rising among 10- to 24-year-olds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

"Recently, in the last few years, they're both trending upward. Suicide began to turn upward earlier, in 2007, and now in 2014, homicide turned around as well," said Sally Curtin, an NCHS statistician. "These are leading causes of death, and they both are increasing now."

The suicide rate for young people aged 10 to 24 rose 56% between 2007 and 2017, with the pace increasing of late, the researchers said.

Suicide deaths increased 7% annually from 2013 to 2017, compared with 3% annually between 2007 and 2013, the investigators found.

Meanwhile, homicide deaths among 10- to 24-year-olds rose 18% between 2014 and 2017, after nearly a decade in decline, the researchers said.

Accidental deaths -- car crashes, drug overdoses, and drownings -- remain the leading cause of death in this age group, Curtin said. But deaths due to suicide and homicide are right behind and rising.

It's impossible to nail down any single cause for this increase in violent deaths among the young, said Dr. Alex Crosby, chief medical officer for the division of injury prevention at the CDC.

Homicide and suicide rates differed slightly between specific age groups of young people, the researchers reported.

For example, the suicide rate for 10- to 14-year-olds nearly tripled between 2007 and 2017, while their homicide rate declined 18% during the period between 2000 and 2017.

But people in the 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 age ranges have experienced increases in both suicide and homicide rates.

The report was published in the October issue of the CDC's NCHS Data Brief.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/suicide-health-news-646/deaths-due-to-suicide-homicide-on-the-rise-among-u-s-youth-751349.html

Movie Violence Doesn't Make Kids Violent, Study Finds

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Parents often worry that violent movies can trigger violence in their kids, but a new study suggests PG-13-rated movies won't turn your kids into criminals.

Researchers found that as PG-13 movies became more violent between 1985 and 2015, overall rates of murder and violence actually fell.

"It doesn't appear that PG-13-rated movies are having any impact on viewers," said lead researcher Christopher Ferguson. He's a professor of psychology at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.

Kids may re-enact things they see in films during play, Ferguson said, but their playful re-enactments don't turn into real-life violence, like bullying or assaults.

But the report came under fire from Dan Romer, director of the University of Pennsylvania's Adolescent Communication Institute. He said the data studied can't be used to draw conclusions about movies' effects on violence.

"The authors have a very simplistic model of how the mass media work, and they have an agenda that attempts to show that violent media are salutary rather than harmful," Romer said. "What is needed is dispassionate analysis rather than cherry-picking of convenient data."

Previous studies have suggested parents may become desensitized to violence in PG-13 movies, making it more likely they will let children see them -- especially when gun violence is portrayed as justified.

But researcher Ferguson said media are simply an easy target for people who want to claim the moral high ground. Blaming media gives people a false sense of control.

"It's nice to say, 'Let's get rid of this thing and then that would make all these problems go away,'" he said. "It's kind of a simplistic answer."

Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children's Hospital, reviewed the findings. He said the new study attempts to simplify a complex issue.

"While violence has declined, it doesn't warrant the conclusion that we are not affected by violence in our media," Rich said. "As a pediatrician, I am more concerned about the violence that children experience every day, which is not reflected in crime stats."

What people experience most is micro-aggressions, like bullying, Rich said. While he considers movies a reflection of society, he added that the causes of violence and aggression are numerous. "It's a complex issue," he said.

But it's clear that violence in media has a numbing effect, making viewers less bothered by it, he said. "That is, in part, why violent media always needs to up the ante," Rich explained.

Media violence teaches kids that the world is more violent than it really is, and most react by becoming more fearful, not more violent or aggressive, he said.

"Violence is much rarer than fear and anxiety," Rich said. "We find that most kids who carry a weapon into school do it for protection."

For the study, Ferguson and Villanova University psychology professor Patrick Markey reviewed other researchers' data on PG-13 movies, along with U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation data on violent crime and the National Crime Victimization Survey.

But Romer said that data can't be used to draw conclusions about movies' effects on violence.

The report was published in the journal Psychiatric Quarterly.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/violence-health-news-787/movie-violence-doesn-t-make-kids-violent-study-finds-741747.html

Teens Who Hurt Themselves More Likely to Hurt Others

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Teens who harm themselves are three times more likely to commit violent crimes than those who don't, a new study reveals.

"We know that some individuals who self-harm also inflict harm on others," said study author Leah Richmond-Rakerd, from Duke University.

"What has not been clear is whether there are early-life characteristics or experiences that increase the risk of violent offending among individuals who self-harm," she added in a university news release. "Identifying these risk factors could guide interventions that prevent and reduce interpersonal violence."

The investigators also found that adolescents who harm themselves and commit violent crimes are likely to have been mistreated in childhood and have poor self-control.

Incidents of teens cutting or burning themselves have substantially increased in recent years, both in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Among teen girls, about one in four tries to harm herself, as do one in 10 teen boys. In the United Kingdom, the incidence of self-injury among teen girls has risen nearly 70 percent in three years, the researchers found.

For the study, Richmond-Rakerd and colleagues compared young people who engage in "dual-harm" behavior -- self-harm plus violent crime -- with those who only self-harm.

The study participants included more than 2,200 U.K. twins born in 1994 and 1995, who took part in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study.

The twins were followed across their first 20 years of life.

The findings showed that self-harm and violent crime didn't go together because of genetics or family risk factors, according to Terrie Moffitt, founder of the E-Risk Study.

"This means that young people who self-harm may see violence as a way of solving problems and begin to use it against others as well as themselves," Moffitt said.

The study authors advised that teens who harm themselves should be evaluated for the risk of suicide and the risk that they might harm others. In addition, helping self-harmers learn self-control might help prevent violent crime and reduce other harmful behavior.

The report was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/violence-health-news-787/teens-who-hurt-themselves-more-likely-to-hurt-others-741168.html