Assessment of Violence and Other High-Risk Behaviors with a School Survey

Abstract

This study reports the results of a school safety survey administered to 10,909 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students in a Virginia suburban school district. The survey assesses attitudes toward aggressive behavior and high-risk behaviors including weapon carrying, fighting, and substance use. Analyses of statistical significance and effect size indicated that the elimination of surveys judged to be invalid substantially reduced the reported incidence of all forms of high-risk behavior; although boys reported more high-risk behavior than girls, more than 10% of girls reported high-risk behavior including fighting, substance use, and carrying weapons at school within a 30-day period; aggressive attitudes and gang membership were linked to high-risk behaviors; and there was strong correspondence between high-risk behaviors at school and outside of school, but lower frequencies at school than outside of school. These results have implications for future use of school surveys and identification of students likely to engage in high-risk behavior.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dewey G. Cornell

Dewey G. Cornell, PhD, is an associate professor of education in the Programs in Clinical and School Psychology at the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia. He is the director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project, which conducts training and research on youth violence in schools and communities.

Ann B. Loper

Ann B. Loper, PhD, is an associate professor for the general faculty at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. Dr. Loper is the director of the Center for Clinical Psychology Services of the Curry Programs in Clinical and School Psychology. She is particularly interested in research on violence by adolescent girls.