Article Text
Abstract
Purpose Examine associations between features of the built environment and violence perpetration among male youth.
Methods We enrolled 866 male adolescents, ages 13–19 years, as part of a violence prevention study in 20 lower-resource neighbourhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Exposure to built environmental features was defined using participants’ neighbourhood study site. Violence perpetration was measured by three survey items: physical fighting, threatening someone with a weapon, and injuring someone with a weapon. Logistic regression models examined associations between each environmental feature and violence perpetration.
Results Better neighbourhood walkability was associated with significantly lower odds of fighting (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.86, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.99). Alcohol and tobacco outlets were associated with slightly lower odds of violence perpetration (AORs=0.89–0.96).
Conclusions This work extends previous studies from large urban centres to a mid-sized city context and suggests that walkable neighbourhoods create opportunities for social interactions and may serve as a protective factor in youth violence.
- violence prevention
- environment
- spatial distribution
- adolescent
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Footnotes
Funding This work was supported by Academic Pediatric Association Young Investigator Award, PI: Culyba, NIH/NCATS 1 KL2 TR001856, PI: Kapoor; Scholar: Culyba and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant number U01CE002528, PI: Miller.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
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