Variables Associated with Fight Starting Among Colombian High-School Adolescents

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Carmen Cecilia Caballero–Domínguez, José Andrés Perdomo-Rojas, Adalberto Campo–Arias

Abstract

The study's objective was to know some variables associated with lifetime fight starting among high school adolescents in Santa Marta, Colombia. A cross-sectional study was designed to take a probabilistic sample of tenth and eleventh-grade students between 13 and 17 years old. Carrying a weapon to school (OR=2.21, 95% CI 1.63 – 3.01), lifetime alcohol drinking (OR=2.04, 95% CI 1.57 – 2.66), male gender (OR=1.87, 95% CI 1.48 – 2.35), history of physical punishment (OR=1.77, 95% CI 1.36 – 2.31), family dysfunction (OR=1.73, 95% CI 1.06 – 1.78) and studying at a public school (OR=1.34, 95% CI 1.03 – 1.73) were significantly associated with lifetime fight starting. It is concluded that fight starting is associated with individual variables such as carrying a weapon to school, alcohol drinking, and male gender, and contextual variables such as a history of physical punishment, family dysfunction, and studying in a public school. Future research should address the fight starting from an ecological perspective for a broader understanding of the phenomenon.

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