BMJ Open. 2023 Oct 18;13(10):e071104. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071104.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate the effects of education and age on the experience of youth violence in low-income and middle-income country settings.
DESIGN: Using a standardised questionnaire, our study collected two waves of longitudinal data on sociodemographics, health practices, health outcomes and risk factors. The panel fixed-effects ordinary least squares regression models were used for the analysis.
SETTINGS: The study was conducted in 59 villages and the town of Nouna with a population of about 100 000 individuals, 1 hospital and 13 primary health centres in Burkina Faso.
PARTICIPANTS: We interviewed 1644 adolescents in 2017 and 1291 respondents in 2018 who participated in both rounds.
OUTCOME AND EXPOSURE MEASURES: We examined the experience of physical attacks in the past 12 months and bullying in the past 30 days. Our exposures were completed years of age and educational attainment.
RESULTS: A substantial minority of respondents experienced violence in both waves (24.1% bullying and 12.2% physical attack), with males experiencing more violence. Bullying was positively associated with more education (β=0.12; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.22) and non-significantly with older age. Both effects were stronger in males than females, although the gender differences were not significant. Physical attacks fell with increasing age (β=-0.18; 95% CI -0.31 to -0.05) and this association was again stronger in males than females; education and physical attacks were not substantively associated.
CONCLUSIONS: Bullying and physical attacks are common for rural adolescent Burkinabe. The age patterns found suggest that, particularly for males, there is a need to target violence prevention at younger ages and bullying prevention at slightly older ones, particularly for those remaining in school. Nevertheless, a fuller understanding of the mechanisms behind our findings is needed to design effective interventions to protect youth in low-income settings from violence.
PMID:37852761 | DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071104
