Although research advocates for comprehensive cross-sector youth violence prevention efforts, mobilizing across sectors to translate scientific recommendations into practice has proven challenging. A unifying framework may provide a foundational step toward building a shared understanding of the risk and protective factors that impact youth…

Although decades of behavior-analytic studies have focused on decreasing the aggressive behavior of clients, relatively little research has been conducted on preventing injuries for the staff members who implement treatment plans. In this study, three direct-care staff members working with clients presenting with aggressive behavior were taught…

This dissertation explores the newly theorized concept of "sexualized aggression" in U.S. college women's social drinking spaces (e.g., parties, bars, clubs). I developed the concept of sexualized aggression to refer to understudied and overlooked forms of sexual assault and aggression--more specifically, sexual assault that happens in…

This study examined beliefs about aggression and self-efficacy for nonviolent responses as mediators of longitudinal relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression. Participants were a predominantly African American (79%) sample of 2705 early adolescents from three middle schools within urban neighborhoods with high rates of…

Purpose: To investigate how a physical activity education program based on the teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) model affected disruptive behaviors in teenagers. Method: A total of 338 students (13-15 years old) from the 672 recruited completed a 4-month TPSR-model-based program during their physical education lessons. Disruptive…

To identify factors in adolescence that predict the onset of sexual violence in adolescence and young adulthood. Data were analyzed from six survey waves of the longitudinal Growing up with Media Study (2008-2018) conducted in the USA. Participants were 778 youth 13-18 years old at baseline, who completed online surveys assessing sexual violence…

In addition to the potential loss of life, school shootings can evoke feelings of profound fear and anxiety that disturb a community's sense of safety and security. Questions have been raised about whether schools' approaches to addressing student behavior are a factor in school shootings. These approaches include discipline that removes the…

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a program aimed at preventing partner violence among adolescents. The effect of the program on perceptions and attitudes toward intimate partner violence was examined with the pretest-posttest quasi-experimental method with a control group. The study group consists of 10 volunteers at the…

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 8% of youth in grades 9-12 reported being in a physical fight one or more times in the 12 months preceding the survey, with more than 7% reporting being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of…

Violence is a major public health concern that particularly impacts Black young adults living in under-resourced, urban communities. There is limited research on promotive and protective factors that mitigate the impact of violence exposure on aggressive behavior. This study aims to address this gap by exploring positive factors across the…

School-based prevention and intervention programs are designed to address a variety of issues faced by youth today, both within and outside of schools. The five statements discussed in this report are based on practices rated by CrimeSolutions: (1) School-based bullying prevention programs prevent victimization and reduce perpetration; (2)…

To promote school safety across K-12 settings, one preventative approach to school violence is school-based threat assessment. The current study utilizes a systematic review of empirical threat assessment investigations to inform evidence-based practices for school threat assessment. Twenty-three articles met inclusion criteria for the review. The…

Dating violence is an epidemic that is growing exponentially among the adolescent age group. Dating violence is a pattern of coercive behaviors used by adolescents to control their partners. These coercive behaviors include physical assault, sexual assault, abuse, ascendancy, degradation, intimidation, possessiveness, blaming, and the minimization…

Objective: This study examined if empathy was a significant moderator of several empirically established risk factors for sexual violence perpetration among college men. Participants: Data are from 544 college men who participated in a longitudinal study from 2008 to 2011 at a large, public university. Methods: Participants completed a self-report…

Firearm injury is a significant public health concern among youth living in the United States. Youth with exposure to violence (ETV) are more susceptible to carrying and using a firearm. Few researchers, however, have examined psychological mechanisms undergirding the association between ETV and firearm aggression. Retaliatory attitudes have been…