Poster #108 - School-Based Delinquency Risk: Bullying, Alcohol Use, and Protective Factors in the 2023 YRBS

• In Event: Poster Session II (posters 80 – 155)

Abstract

School-based delinquency and safety outcomes are important indicators of adolescent risk because they reflect both student behavior and the broader safety climate of schools. Using data from the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the current analysis examines how risk and protective factors are associated with three school-based outcomes among high school students: weapon carrying at school, physical fighting at school, and missing school because of feeling unsafe. Risk-related variables include bullying victimization and alcohol use, while protective variables include school connectedness and parental monitoring.

Prior research links bullying victimization and alcohol use to adolescent violence, weapon carrying, substance use, and other health-risk behaviors, while school connectedness and parental monitoring have been associated with lower prevalence of multiple negative outcomes. Logistic regression models will examine direct associations between risk/protective factors and each outcome, as well as moderation effects testing whether school connectedness and parental monitoring weaken the associations between risk exposure and school-based outcomes. By examining risk and protection together, findings may inform school-based prevention efforts targeting student safety, supervision, and connectedness.

Author

• Trace Bilby, University of Nebraska-Lincoln