Abstract

Objectives. The present analysis sought to explore the normative rates and correlates of school victimization and weapon carrying among military-connected and nonmilitary-connected youth in public schools in Southern California. Methods. Data are from a sub-sample of the 2011 California Healthy Kids Survey (N = 14,512). Items to assess victimization and weapon carrying were separated into three categories: physical acts (e.g., being pushed or shoved), nonphysical acts (e.g., having rumors spread about them) and weapon carrying. Results. The bivariate results indicate that youth with a military-connected parent had higher rates of physical victimization (56.8%), nonphysical victimization (68.1%), and weapon carrying (14.4%) compared to those with siblings serving (55.2%, 65.2%, and 11.4%, respectively) and nonmilitary-connected (50.3%, 61.6%, and 8.9%, respectively) youth. Having a parent in the military increased the odds of weapon carrying by 29% (Odds Ratio = 129, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.65). Changing schools and a larger number of family member deployments in the past 10 years were associated with significant increases in the likelihood of victimization and weapon carrying. Conclusions. The results of this analysis warrant a focus on school supports for youth experiencing parental military service, multiple relocations and deployments of a family member. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.