The Relationships between Environmental Factors and Violent Behaviors in Adolescent Students of Isfahan, Iran

BACKGROUND: Violence is a global issue that has received considerable attention during recent years. Available research has suggested various factors, mostly family and social factors, to possibly affect violence. As previous studies have not examined the relationship between these factors and violent behaviors in adolescents, this study aimed to assess the relationship between environmental factors and violence in adolescents. METHODS: This descriptive, correlational research used cluster sampling to select 5500 adolescent students from Isfahan Province (Iran). Data were collected through a 21-item researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire was modified according to the relevant experts’ opinions and had Cronbach's alpha of 0.82. The collected data were analyzed by applying multiple regression analysis in SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: Most participants (89.1%) lived in urban areas and about half (49.8%) of them were female. Linear regression test showed violent behaviors to have significant, inverse relationships with love and affection in the family (β = −0.097; P < 0.001) and watching drama and comedy movies (β = −0.128; P < 0.001 and β = −0.032; P = 0.030, respectively). There were significant, direct relationships between violent behaviors in adolescents and aggressive behaviors in the family (β =0.099; P < 0.001) and watching crime, police, and action movies (β =0.129; P < 0.001, detective movies β =0.043; P < 0.001, and β =0.061; P < 0.001, respectively). However, the incidence of violent behaviors was not significantly related with the effects of peers and presence of sports facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirmed love and affection and healthy pastime (e.g. watching comedy and drama movies) in the family to reduce violent behaviors in adolescents. In contrast, aggressive behaviors in the family, watching crime, police, and action movies were found to increase violent behaviors in adolescents.