title: The role of neighborhood income inequality in adolescent aggression and violence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Being a perpetrator or victim of assaults can have detrimental effects on the development and health of adolescents. Area-level income inequality has been suggested to be associated with crime and aggressive behavior. However, most prior research on this association has been ecological. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to describe the association between neighborhood-level income inequality and aggression and violence outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from a sample of 1,878 adolescents living in 38 neighborhoods participating in the 2008 Boston Youth Survey. We used multilevel logistic regression models to estimate the association between neighborhood income inequality and attacking someone with a weapon, being attacked by someone with a weapon, being physically assaulted, being shown a gun by someone in the neighborhood, shot at by someone in the neighborhood, witnessing someone getting murdered in the past year, and having a close family member or friend murdered. Race and income inequality cross-level interactions were tested. Analyses were stratified by sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among nonblack boys, after adjusting for nativity, age, neighborhood-level income, crime, disorder, and proportion of the neighborhood that is black, income inequality was associated with an increased risk for committing acts of aggression and being a victim of violence. Among nonblack girls, those living in neighborhoods with high-income inequality were more likely to witness someone die a violent death in the previous year, in comparison to those in more equal neighborhoods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Income inequality appears to be related to aggression and victimization outcomes among nonblack adolescents living in Boston.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: rpabayo@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pabayo
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Beth E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kawachi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000374:Aggression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Aggression; Income inequality; Multilevel analysis; Neighborhood characteristics; Socioeconomic factors; Violence