title: Trends and socioeconomic correlates of adolescent physical fighting in 30 countries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  No recent international studies provide evidence about its prevalence, trends, or social determinants of physical fighting in adolescents. We studied cross-national epidemiologic trends over time in the occurrence of frequent physical fighting, demographic variations in reported trends, and national wealth and income inequality as correlates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional surveys were administered in school settings in 2002, 2006, and 2010. Participants (N = 493874) included eligible and consenting students aged 11, 13, and 15 years in sampled schools from 30 mainly European and North American countries. Individual measures included engagement in frequent physical fighting, age, gender, participation in multiple risk behaviors, victimization by bullying, and family affluence. Contextual measures included national income inequality, absolute wealth and homicide rates. Temporal measure was survey cycle (year).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Frequent physical fighting declined over time in 19 (63%) of 30 countries (from descriptive then multiple Poisson regression analyses). Contextual measures of absolute wealth (relative risk 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.93-0.99 per 1 SD increase in gross domestic product per capita) but not income inequality (relative risk 1.01, 95% confidence interval 0.98-1.05 per 1 SD increase) related to lower levels of engagement in fighting. Other risk factors identified were male gender, younger age (11 years), multiple risk behaviors, victimization by bullying, and national homicide rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Between 2002 and 2010, adolescent physical fighting declined in most countries. Specific groups of adolescents require targeted violence reduction programs. Possible determinants responsible for the observed declines are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. will.pickett@queensu.ca
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pickett
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molcho
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Elgar
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Margaretha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Looze
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rathmann
authors.forename: Tom F M
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: ter Bogt
authors.forename: Saoirse
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nic Gabhainn
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sigmundová
authors.forename: Margarida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaspar de Matos
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: Sophie D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Yossi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Harel-Fisch
authors.forename: Candace
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Currie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends*