Prevalence of exposure to violence and related factors among high school students in Turkey

Background: Exposure to violence during childhood can have an adverse effect on health and well-being. Aims: To determine the frequency of exposure to violence among ninth-grade high school students in Kars, Turkey, and violence-related factors. Also, to examine whether frequency of exposure to violence differed with respect to school type. Methods: We included 1730 ninth-grade high school students in Kars in this cross-sectional study that used stratification and cluster sampling methods, and 2 questionnaires. The first questionnaire was used to determine the socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics of the students. The second questionnaire was the Exposure to Violence Scale. chi(2) and backward logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the independent variables among potential risk factors and exposure to violence. Results: Exposure to violence was found to have a prevalence of 65.8% among ninth-grade high school students. Binary analysis revealed that frequency of exposure to violence was differed significantly by type of high school, place of residence, type of family, and parents' occupational status. Backward logistic regression showed that type of high school and type of family were risk factors for exposure to violence. Conclusion: The rates of exposure to violence were high among ninth-grade high school students in Kars. Preventive, protective and ameliorating intervention steps should be taken more seriously.