PHILADELPHIA, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls in middle and elementary
schools involved in violent incidents may be more likely than boys of the same
age to be retaliating for a previous event, to experience the violence at
home, and to have a family member intervene.
Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia surveyed 190
children aged 8 to 14 brought to the hospital's emergency department for
injuries caused by interpersonal violence. The study appeared in the June
issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
"Although interpersonal violence is not uncommon among pre-adolescent and
young adolescent girls, little research has focused specifically on females,"
said Cynthia J. Mollen, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and first author of the study. "If health
care providers know more about specific patterns of violence, they may be able
to better prevent future incidents."
In the study, research assistants interviewed a sample of patients
presenting to the hospital's emergency department during a one-year period.
The researchers used a survey they had previously developed in focus group
sessions with urban youth at a local community center. Injuries that were
unintentional, self-inflicted or caused by child abuse were not included in
the study, and the researchers chose children aged 14 and younger, to exclude
most cases of dating violence. After obtaining consent from the patients and
parents, the researchers usually interviewed the children without the parent
being present.
Of the 190 patients studied, 58 (31 percent) were female and 132 (69
percent) were male. Seventy-eight, or 40 percent, of the patients were less
than 12 years old, and still in elementary school. The vast majority of the
injuries (88 percent) were classified as minor; of the 22 remaining injuries,
including concussions and fractures, only one occurred in a female. For most
of their analyses, the researchers compared violent events involving at least
one girl (74 events) to those involving only boys (116 events).
The patients classified 67 percent of the events as fights and 30 percent
of the incidents as assaults, in which the patient did not respond physically
to the attack.
For both genders, the most common reason for a fight was "being
disrespected" or "teasing," but in contrast to male-only incidents, female-
involved events were more commonly a recurrence of a previous fight.
The most common site of the violent event was school, but incidents
involving females were more likely than all-male incidents to occur at home.
Furthermore, among females, a family member was more likely to intervene to
stop the violence.
Weapons were more often present in events involving at least one female,
and females were more likely than males to be injured by a weapon, especially
blunt objects such as sticks or rocks. Weapons could be unlikely objects,
including clothes hangers and rollerblades. Only five of the 190 patients had
firearm injuries.
"While much further research remains to be done on interpersonal violence
involving children, this study provides information for parents and
caregivers," said Dr. Mollen. "For instance, because 'disrespect' appears so
prominently as a trigger for violence, children and parents could benefit by
learning techniques for responding to perceived insults in a nonviolent
manner. We know from previous research that a parent's attitude about
appropriate triggers for violence has an effect on children's behavior.
"In addition," she added, "because girls were more likely to offer
retaliation as a reason for violence, healthcare providers could screen
injured girls about their safety concerns and their plans for retaliation.
Understanding gender differences in violent behavior could help us in
designing school-based and community intervention programs for children in
this age group."
The researchers identified the patients in the study through the Violence
Intervention Project, an ongoing health surveillance program at Children's
Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania that refers
violently injured youth to appropriate community organizations.
Co-authors of the study with Dr. Mollen were emergency medicine physicians
Joel A. Fein, M.D. and Dennis R. Durbin, M.D., of The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia, and A. Russell Localio, J.D., M.P.H., of the Center for Clinical
Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the University of Pennsylvania. The American
Academy of Pediatrics and the William Penn Foundation supported the study
through the Ken Graff Young Investigator Award.
Founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital, The Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia is ranked in 2003 as the best pediatric hospital in
the nation by U.S.News & World Report and Child magazines. Through its long-
standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new
generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major
research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that
have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the
largest in the country, ranking second in National Institutes of Health
funding among children's hospitals. In addition, its unique family-centered
care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition
as a leading advocate for children and adolescents from before birth through
age 19. Children's Hospital operates the largest pediatric healthcare system
in the U.S. with more than 40 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Delaware.
Contact: John Ascenzi
(267) 426-6055
Ascenzi@email.chop.edu
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SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
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Related links:
http://www.chop.edu
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/159681.html
CONTACT:
John Ascenzi, The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia, +1-267-426-6055, Ascenzi@email.chop.edu
NOTE TO EDITORS: Interviews with Dr. Mollen can be arranged
through the press contact listed. Reporters may also arrange to
interview Dr. Joel Fein, the director of the Violence
Intervention Project and a co-author of the study.
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