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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.147827v1 99/11/2041    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Xue, Y. Articles by Cunningham, R. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Xue, Y. Articles by Cunningham, R. Related Collections Adolescent Health Injury/Emergency Care/Violence African Americans/Blacks Alcohol

Yange Xue, PhD, Marc A. Zimmerman, PhD and Rebecca Cunningham, MD

Yange Xue is with Mathematica Policy Research, Princeton, NJ. Marc A. Zimmerman is with the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Rebecca Cunningham is with the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Yange Xue, PhD, Mathematica Policy Research, 600 Alexander Park, Princeton, NJ 08540 (e-mail: yxue{at}mathematica-mpr.com). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objectives. We examined developmental trajectories of alcohol use and violent behavior among urban African American youths and the longitudinal relationship between these behaviors from adolescence to emerging adulthood.

Methods. Our sample included 649 African American youths (49% male) followed for 8 years. We assessed violent behavior and alcohol use by asking participants how often they had engaged in each behavior in the preceding 12 months. Growth curve analyses were conducted to identify the developmental trajectories of the 2 behaviors and to explore the longitudinal relationship between them.

Results. Violent behavior peaked in middle to late adolescence and declined thereafter, whereas the frequency of alcohol use increased steadily over time. These developmental trajectories varied according to gender. Among both male and female participants, early violent behavior predicted later alcohol use, and early alcohol use predicted later violent behavior. Moreover, changes in one behavior were associated with changes in the other.

Conclusions. Our results support a bidirectional relationship between alcohol use and violent behavior. Efforts to reduce one problem can be expected to reduce the other. Programs and policies aimed at reducing violence or alcohol use among adolescents should take into account this relationship.