Violence Prevention Publications

Boost Your Competitive Edge: Actions for a Healthy, Productive Workforce [PDF 939KB]
This resource outlines actions that a business or organization can take to ensure a healthier and more productive workforce, now and into the next generation. Employers can use this resource as a guide to consider strategic investments that may reduce employee stress through the promotion of safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for your employees and their children, as well as throughout your community as a whole.

Building Community Commitment for Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments [PDF 345KB]

A how to guide that provides implementation methods for one of the Essentials for Childhood Framework’s four goals. This document introduces how to raise awareness and build commitment for safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments.

Child Maltreatment: Facts at a Glance [PDF 78KB]
This data sheet provides up-to-date data and statistics on child maltreatment.

Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements [PDF 4.12MB]
The purpose of the child maltreatment uniform definitions and recommended data elements is to present a definition of child maltreatment, its associated terms, and recommended data elements for voluntary use by individuals and organizations in the public health community. The definitions and data elements are intended to promote and improve consistency of child maltreatment surveillance for public health practices. It is designed to be used by state and local health department staff to assist in and provide a framework for the collection of public health surveillance data on child maltreatment.

Essentials for Childhood: Steps to create safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children [PDF 5.5MB]

This document describes CDC’s framework for preventing child abuse and neglect through the promotion of safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. The framework lays out the steps to reach four key goals.

Journalists’Guide to Shaken Baby Syndrome: A Preventable Tragedy
This guide gives journalists and other media professionals access to the pertinent background and resources needed to effectively cover the story of shaken baby syndrome as a public health issue. The guide provides tips for parents and caregivers on coping with a crying baby, reinforces that crying is a normal part of infant development, and educates parents and caregivers on ways to calm down when frustrated or pushed to the limit by a crying baby.

Parent Training Programs: Insight for Practitioners [PDF 615KB]
This document summarizes the findings of a meta-analysis to identify components associated with more effective and less effective parent training program and provides evidence-based guidance for practitioners who work with parents and families to improve parenting skills and prevent child maltreatment.

Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma: Recommended Definitions for Public Health Surveillance and Research [PDF 8.8MB]
This publication was developed to improve the quality and consistency of data on abusive head trauma in children by providing a definition of abusive head trauma and presenting recommended data elements for use by individuals and organizations. The document is designed to aid in the collection of surveillance data intended to promote and improve consistency of abusive head trauma surveillance for public health purposes. Definitions and data elements are based on International Classification of Diseases external-cause-of-injury codes.

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: A Technical Package for Policy, Norm, and Programmatic Activities [PDF 3.69MB]
This document is CDC’s technical package for preventing child abuse and neglect. Within the document, a number of strategies are identified to help states and communities prioritize prevention activities based on the best available evidence.

Preventing Child Maltreatment: Program Activities Guide [PDF 492KB]
This guide describes CDC’s public health activities and research to prevent child abuse and neglect. The guide outlines the four categories of activities that are key to CDC’s prevention work: monitoring and researching the problem, developing and evaluating prevention strategies, supporting and enhancing prevention programs, and encouraging research and development.

Preventing Child Maltreatment Through the Promotion of Safe, Stable, and Nurturing Relationships Between Children and Caregivers [PDF 279KB]
This document describes a five-year vision for CDC’s work in child maltreatment prevention. The overall strategy in preventing child maltreatment is to promote safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and their caregivers.

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-serving Organizations: Getting Started on Policies and Procedures [PDF 4.57MB]
CDC developed this document to assist youth-serving organizations as they begin to adopt prevention strategies for child sexual abuse. The guide identifies key components of child sexual abuse prevention for organizations and includes prevention goals and critical strategies for each component. Suggestions for addressing challenges and tools to help organizations get started are also provided.

Preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome: Guide for Health Departments and Community Based Organizations
This guide can help your organization identify roles to take action to protect infants from shaken baby syndrome, also known as abusive head trauma. The guide offers information on building a framework for prevention, getting the message out, building partnerships, and impacting policy. Together with local and national partners, your organization can make a difference in prevention.

Promoting Healthy Parenting Practices Across Cultural Groups: A CDC Research Brief [PDF 6.28MB]
This publication presents findings from focus groups conducted by CDC to explore cultural issues around parenting strategies and values among African-Americans, American Indians, Asian-Americans, Hispanic- Americans, and non-Hispanic Whites.

Promoting Positive Community Norms [PDF 425KB]
A how to guide that provides implementation methods for one of the Essentials for Childhood Framework’s four goals. This provides a guide to creating community norms that increase understanding and promotion of safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children and families.

Promoting Safe, Stable and Nurturing Relationships: A Strategic Direction for Child Maltreatment Prevention [PDF 93KB]
This two-page document summarizes key concepts related to CDC’s primary strategy in child maltreatment prevention: the promotion of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and their parents or caregivers.

The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan [PDF 1MB]
The purpose of this publication is to summarize the research on childhood stress and its implications for adult health and well-being. Of particular interest is the stress caused by child abuse, neglect, and repeated exposure to intimate partner violence.

THRIVES: A Global Technical Package to Prevent Violence Against Children [PDF 954KB]
The United Nations has issued a call-to-action to eliminate violence against children. Essential to preventing violence against children is guidance to countries that want to use the best available evidence to address this problem. THRIVES provides this evidence. It represents a select group of complementary strategies that represent critical components for preventing violence against children. CDC and key global partners recognize many of the THRIVES strategies as being critical components of successful efforts to prevent violence against children.

THRIVES: Core Strategies to Prevention Violence Against Children One Pager [PDF 398KB]
This document summarizes THRIVES, a select group of complementary strategies that reflect the best available evidence to help countries sharpen their focus on priorities with the greatest potential to reduce violence against children.

Understanding Child Maltreatment: Fact Sheet [PDF 192KB]
Intended for the general public, this 2-page fact sheet provides a basic overview of child maltreatment.

Elder Abuse Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Core Data Elements [PDF 4MB]
This publication was developed to present a set of standard definitions for elder abuse, its associated terms, and recommended data elements for voluntary use in the public health community. The definitions and data elements are intended to promote and improve consistency in elder abuse surveillance for public health practices. Definitions included in the document draw upon definitions that are currently used in the literature and were adapted in collaboration with experts on elder abuse. Use of uniform definitions and data elements can help to standardize data collection and provide more accurate and reliable estimates of elder abuse.

Understanding Elder Abuse — Fact Sheet [PDF 185KB]
Intended for the general public, this fact sheet provides up-to-date information on the topic of elder abuse.

Understanding and Preventing Violence: Summary of 2016 Research and Surveillance Activities [PDF 1.95MB]
This resource describes CDC’s 2016 research activities in violence prevention and highlights some results from previously funded research and ongoing surveillance activities.

Using Essential Elements to Select, Adapt, and Evaluate Violence Prevention Approaches [PDF 10MB]
This guidance is for practitioners and will help explain how evidence-based approaches work and how this knowledge can be used to effectively select, deliver, adapt and evaluate approaches. Although this guidance was designed with evidence-based approaches in mind, it may also be useful for approaches supported by promising or emerging evidence. The guidance can be used with programs, as well as community and social change approaches.

Connecting the Dots: An Overview of the Links Among Multiple Forms of Violence [PDF 2.8MB]

Co-developed by CDC and the Prevention Institute, this resource shares research on connections between different forms of violence and describes how these connections affect communities. The purpose of the publication is to support strategic and creative thinking for those who work to prevent violence.

Coping with Stress After a Traumatic Event [PDF 570.27KB]
This 2-page fact sheet is intended for the general public. It provides coping strategies for those who have recently experienced a traumatic event.

Evaluation for Improvement: A Seven-Step Empowerment Evaluation Approach [PDF2.86MB]
This manual is designed to help violence prevention organizations hire an empowerment evaluator to assist in building evaluation capacity. The manual is developed for state and local leaders, coalitions, government agencies, and partnerships to prevent violence. Some parts of the manual might also be useful to the empowerment evaluators who are subsequently hired to work with these organizations.

This two-page document provides practical information on how to prepare for a disaster or other emergencies when young children are involved.

Medical Costs and Productivity Losses Due to Interpersonal Violence and Self-Directed Violence [PDF 140KB]
This study analyzed the incidence and rate, lifetime medical costs, and lifetime productivity losses of physical injuries from interpersonal and self-directed violence requiring medical attention in the U.S. in 2000. The study provides insight in determining the appropriate level of investment for specific violence prevention activities and for assessing the relative burden of violence, compared with the burden of other health outcomes. The article also discusses deficiencies in data availability that limit full understanding of the economic burden of violence.

NVDRS Fact Sheet [PDF 784KB]

This two-page document highlights facts about the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). NVDRS is the only state-based surveillance (reporting) system that gathers data on violent deaths from multiple sources and assembles it into a usable, anonymous database. Sources include state and local medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement, crime labs, and vital statistics records.

National Violent Death Reporting System Implementation Manual [PDF 923MB]
More than 55,000 people die from homicides and suicides each year in the United States, yet there is a lack of basic information about the characteristics and circumstances of these violent deaths at the local, state, and national levels that could help prevent them. CDC’s Injury Center has developed the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) Implementation Manual to promote the development of a uniform violent death reporting system. The Manual will also serve as a training tool for public or private agencies wishing to implement a similar reporting system in their own jurisdiction. Data from this system can be compared across states and localities and will help practitioners and policy makers design and evaluate local, regional, and national prevention programs and to make informed decisions about violence prevention.

• NVDRS Coding Manual [PDF 1MB]
• NVDRS Implementation Manual Appendix [PDF 1.06MB]

NVDRS Overview [PDF 1.8MB]
This document provides a summary overview of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). NVDRS is the only state-based surveillance (reporting) system that gathers data on violent deaths from multiple sources and assembles it into a usable, anonymous database. Sources include state and local medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement, crime labs, and vital statistics records.

Parents Helping Youth Cope with Disaster Tip Sheet [PDF 445KB]
This two-page document provides practical information on how to prepare for a disaster or other emergencies when children of all ages are involved.

Preventing Multiple Forms of Violence: A Strategic Vision for Connecting the Dots [PDF 774KB]
This document describes a five-year vision for CDC’s priorities in violence prevention. CDC will use this document to prioritize its portfolio of work to better address the connections among the different forms of violence, shape future funding initiatives, and guide its collaborative efforts with partners across the country.

The Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention [PDF 201KB]
This document provides a brief overview of the public health perspective and the foundational questions used to systematically address public health issues in understanding and preventing violence.

The Social-Ecological Model: A Framework for Violence Prevention [PDF 114KB]
This document presents the four-level social-ecological model (SEM) that CDC uses to better understand and prevent violence.

Understanding Evidence Part 1: Best Available Research Evidence. A Guide to the Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness [PDF 875KB]
The Evidence Project proposes a comprehensive framework for understanding evidence and evidence-based decision making that includes three types of evidence (best available research evidence, contextual evidence, and experiential evidence). The following documents provide more information about the framework for thinking about evidence. View, download, or print more information

• A Framework for Thinking About Evidence [PDF 79KB]
• Continuum of Evidence chart [PDF 235KB]

Understanding the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation [PDF 350KB]
This informational brief describes the Interactive Systems Framework for Implementation and Dissemination (ISF). The ISF was developed to address the “how to” gap that exists between scientifically determining what works and moving that knowledge into the field for the benefit of the public.

Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States [PDF 228KB]
Recognizing the need to better measure both the scope of the problem of intimate partner violence (IPV) as well as resulting economic costs—in particular, those related to health care—Congress funded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a study to obtain national estimates of the occurrence of IPV-related injuries, to estimate their costs to the health care system, and to recommend strategies to prevent IPV and its consequences.

The resulting report, Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States—

• Describes briefly the development of the requested study;
• Presents findings for the estimated incidence, prevalence, and costs of nonfatal and fatal IPV;
• Identifies future research needs;
• Highlights CDC’s research priorities for IPV prevention.

Dating Matters®: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships [PDF 2.13MB]
Dating Matters®: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships is CDC’s teen dating violence prevention initiative based on the current evidence about what works in prevention. This two-page document summarizes Dating Matters strategies in its comprehensive approach for individuals, peers, families, schools, and neighborhoods.

Evaluation for Improvement: A Seven-Step Empowerment Evaluation Approach [PDF 2.96MB]
This manual is designed to help violence prevention organizations hire an empowerment evaluator who will assist them in building their evaluation capacity through a learn-by-doing process of evaluating their own strategies. It is for state and local leaders and staff members of organizations, coalitions, government agencies, and/or partnerships working to prevent violence. Some parts of the manual may also be useful to empowerment evaluators who work with these organizations.

Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence and HIV in Women [PDF 2.15MB]
The association between violence against women and risk for HIV infection has been the focus of a growing number of studies. This document presents findings from those studies and CDC’s work that focuses on preventing intimate partner violence before it happens while preventing new HIV infections.

Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Victimization Assessment Instruments for Use in Health Care Settings [PDF 1.71MB]
This document is a compilation of existing tools for assessing intimate partner violence and sexual violence victimization in clinical and healthcare settings. The compilation is intended to serve as a guide to help identify victims requiring additional services. Identification can help practitioners make appropriate referrals for both victims and perpetrators.

Intimate Partner Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements, Version 2.0 [PDF 1.75MB]
This is intended for individuals and organizations interested in gathering surveillance data on intimate partner violence (IPV). The document is not meant as a set of mandates, but to promote and improve consistency of IPV surveillance. When data elements are uniformly recorded and the data are made available to numerous users, better estimates of the incidence and prevalence of IPV can be obtained, and problems, such as data incompatibility and high costs of collecting, linking, and using data can be substantially reduced. This version updates the original document that was published in 1999.

Measuring Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Perpetration: A Compendium of Assessment Tools [PDF 4.99KB]
This compendium provides professionals who address intimate partner violence with easy access to a set of tools with demonstrated reliability and validity for measuring the self-reported incidence and prevalence of intimate partner victimization and perpetration. The compendium includes more than 20 scales and identifies which scales are appropriate for measuring a given type of intimate partner violence. Information is intended to help researchers and practitioners make informed decisions when choosing scales to use in their work.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence in Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities: CDC’s Demonstration Projects
This monograph discusses approaches, challenges, and solutions faced in developing, implementing, and evaluating culturally competent intimate partner and sexual violence interventions for racial and ethnic minority populations. Papers within it are primarily descriptive reports that focus on implementation challenges and lessons learned. Such descriptive work can be critical in advancing the development of culturally competent approaches to violence prevention.

Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence: Program Activities Guide [PDF 8.38MB]
The Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence: Program Activities Guide describes CDC’s public health activities and research related to intimate partner and sexual violence. The guide outlines four categories of activities which are essential to CDC’s prevention work: tracking the problem, developing and evaluating prevention strategies, supporting and enhancing prevention programs, and providing prevention resources. Key publications are also highlighted.

Promoting Respectful, Nonviolent Intimate Partner Relationships: A Strategic Direction for Intimate Partner Violence [PDF 124KB]
This two-page document describes intimate partner violence as a public health problem and CDC’s strategies in promoting healthy relationships through individual, community, and societal change.

Strategic Direction for the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence [PDF 152KB]
This document describes a five-year vision for CDC’s work on intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention. The overall strategy in preventing IPV is to promote respectful, nonviolent relationships through individual-, relationship-, community-, and societal-level change. This will be done, in part, through programs, practices, and policies that help change behavior among individuals, couples, and families and create communities and societies that help produce and support these changes.

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2010 Summary Report [PDF 168KB]
CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) is an ongoing, nationally-representative telephone survey that collects detailed information on sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization from adult women and men in the United States. NISVS is the first ongoing survey dedicated solely to describing and monitoring these forms of violence as public health issues. Executive Summary in English [PDF 748KB] or Spanish [PDF 748KB].

Training Professionals in the Primary Prevention of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Planning Guide [PDF 1.75MB]
This Guide describes how to develop, implement, and evaluate a process for training professionals to engage in sexual violence and intimate partner violence prevention. The Guide is designed to help practitioners tailor individual trainings to different groups of professionals. It provides definitions of sexual violence and intimate partner violence and includes real-life examples to illustrate theory put into practice. In addition to step-by-step guidance on all the tasks necessary for planning a training, the Guide includes tip sheets, worksheets, checklists, and an extensive resource list.

Understanding Intimate Partner Violence: Fact Sheet [PDF 270KB]
This two-page fact sheet provides a basic overview of intimate partner violence. It is intended for the general public.

Understanding Teen Dating Violence: Fact Sheet [PDF186KB]
This two-page fact sheet defines the different forms of dating violence within the context of public health and describes CDC’s prevention strategies.

Sexual Violence on Campus: Strategies for Prevention [PDF 3.49MB]
The Sexual Violence on Campus: Strategies for Prevention document describes CDC’s framework for preventing sexual violence on college and university campuses. The framework outlines the five components needed for prevention efforts to have greater impact on the reduction and prevention of sexual violence on campus. Evidence-informed strategies as well as examples from the field are highlighted.

Evaluation for Improvement: A Seven-Step Empowerment Evaluation Approach [PDF 2.85MB]
This manual is designed to help violence prevention organizations hire an empowerment evaluator who will assist them in building their evaluation capacity through a learn-by-doing process of evaluating their own strategies. It is for state and local leaders and staff members of organizations, coalitions, government agencies, and/or partnerships working to prevent violence. Some parts of the manual may also be useful to empowerment evaluators who work with these organizations.

Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence: Program Activities Guide [PDF 8.37MB]
The Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence: Program Activities Guide describes CDC’s public health activities and research related to intimate partner and sexual violence. The guide outlines four categories of activities which are essential to CDC’s prevention work: tracking the problem, developing and evaluating prevention strategies, supporting and enhancing prevention programs, and providing prevention resources. Key publications are also highlighted. 

Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue [PDF 209KB]
Sexual violence is a serious public health problem with extensive short- and long-term health consequences. Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue identifies concepts and strategies that may be used as a foundation for planning, implementing, and evaluating sexual violence prevention activities. 

Sexual Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements [PDF 2.01MB]
In the effort to continually improve sexual violence data collection, CDC’s Injury Center has updated Sexual Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements. Through an extensive consultation process with researchers and practitioners, this document includes the latest information available for standardizing sexual violence surveillance definitions and data elements. This publication is useful for a wide audience, including policymakers, researchers, public health practitioners, victim advocates, service providers, and media professionals. 

Sexual Violence: Facts at a Glance [PDF 282KB]
This two-page fact sheet provides statistical information about sexual violence, its victims and perpetrators. 

STOP SV:  A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence [PDF 2.84MB]
This document is CDC’s technical package for preventing sexual violence. Within the document, a number of strategies are identified to help states and communities prioritize prevention activities based on the best available evidence.

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2010 Summary Report [PDF 4.27MB]
CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) is an ongoing, nationally-representative telephone survey that collects detailed information on sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization from adult women and men in the United States. NISVS is the first ongoing survey dedicated solely to describing and monitoring these forms of violence as public health issues. Executive Summary in English [PDF 748KB] or Spanish [PDF 740KB]. 

Training Professionals in the Primary Prevention of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Planning Guide[PDF 1.57MB]
This Guide describes how to develop, implement, and evaluate a process for training professionals to engage in sexual violence and intimate partner violence prevention. The Guide is designed to help practitioners tailor individual trainings to different groups of professionals. It provides definitions of sexual violence and intimate partner violence and includes real-life examples to illustrate theory put into practice. In addition to step-by-step guidance on all the tasks necessary for planning a training, the Guide includes tip sheets, worksheets, checklists, and an extensive resource list.

Understanding Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet [PDF 382KB]
This two-page fact sheet provides a basic overview of sexual violence. It is intended for the general public. 

Connectedness as a Strategic Direction for the Prevention of Suicidal Behavior [PDF 116KB] 
This two-page document describes CDC’s role in preventing suicidal behaviors and its key strategy of promoting and strengthening connectedness at personal, family and community levels.

Preventing Suicide: Program Activities Guide [PDF 443KB]
Suicide is a serious public health problem with extensive short- and long-term health consequences. The Preventing Suicide: Program Activities Guide describes CDC’s public health activities and research to prevent suicide and suicidal behavior. The guide outlines four categories of activities which are key to CDC’s prevention work: monitoring and researching the problem, supporting and enhancing prevention programs, providing prevention resources, and encouraging research and development.

Self-Directed Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements [PDF 1.3MB] 
Self-directed violence (SDV) is an important public health issue in the United States and worldwide. Though numerous organizations collect information on fatal and non-fatal SDV, there is considerable confusion about how to define the problem. To address the current lack of uniform definitions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed Self-Directed Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements to improve and standardize data collected on self-directed violence. Consistent data allow researchers to better gauge the scope of the problem, identify high-risk groups, and monitor the effects of prevention programs. The definitions and data elements were developed in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

State Suicide Prevention Planning: A CDC Research Brief [PDF 3.7MB] 
This research brief summarizes the major findings of the state suicide prevention planning study, identifies the key issues pertaining to the planning process, and offers suggestions for addressing these issues. It also illustrates opportunities for decision making at specific points in the planning and implementation process and provides suggestions for negotiating those decisions based on a state’s planning perspective, unique contingencies, and desired outcomes.

Strategic Direction for the Prevention of Suicidal Behavior [PDF 506KB] 
This document describes a five-year vision for CDC’s work to prevent fatal and nonfatal suicidal behavior. The strategic direction we propose is to prevent suicidal behavior by building and strengthening connectedness or social bonds within and among persons, families, and communities.

Suicide: Facts at a Glance [PDF 140KB] 
This two-page data sheet provides a basic overview of suicide. It is intended for the general public.

Suicides Due to Alcohol and/or Drug Overdose: A Data Brief from the National Violent Death Reporting System [PDF 351KB]

There are a number of factors that increase the likelihood a person will take his or her own life. One of these is abusing substances such as alcohol and drugs. Alcohol and drug abuse are second only to depression and other mood disorders as the most frequent risk factors for suicidal behavior. This data brief summarizes suicide deaths reported in the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) due to poisoning by alcohol and/or other drug ingestion. The brief contains data from 16 states implementing NVDRS from 2005-2007.

Understanding Suicide: Fact Sheet [PDF 254KB] 
This two-page fact sheet provides a basic overview of suicide. It is intended for the general public.

Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action [PDF 1.71MB]
Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action is now translated for the Spanish-speaking population. Best Practices offers insight into the practices that make prevention programs work. It is the first of its kind to look at the effectiveness of specific practices in four key areas: parents and families, home visiting, social and conflict resolution skills, and mentoring. Also available in Spanish [PDF 1.89MB].

Bullying Surveillance Among Youths: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements, Version 1.0 [PDF 8.64MB]
This document is designed as a tool to help you define and gather systematic data on bullying. It is intended to improve the consistency and comparability of data collected on bullying. Consistent terminology with standardized definitions is necessary to improve public health surveillance of bullying and inform efforts to address bullying.

Electronic Media and Youth Violence: A CDC Issue Brief for Educators and Caregivers [PDF 5.50MB]
This piece focuses on the phenomena of electronic aggression. Electronic aggression is defined as any kind of harassment or bullying that occurs through email, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites, blogs, or text messaging. The brief summarizes what is known about young people and electronic aggression, provides strategies for addressing the issue with young people, and discusses the implications for school staff, education policy makers, and parents and caregivers.

Electronic Media and Youth Violence: A CDC Research Brief for Researchers [PDF 11.05MB]
The past two decades have witnessed a virtual explosion in new technology that has been eagerly embraced by adolescents. Technology has many social and educational benefits, but it can also provide more opportunities for youth violence and aggression. In September 2006, CDC convened an expert panel to discuss the latest information on how technology is used by young people to behave aggressively. The panel affirmed the need for a purposeful approach to preventing youth violence and aggression perpetrated through the use of electronic media. Electronic Media and Youth Violence: A CDC Research Brief for Researchers describes the current research on electronic aggression, highlights the gaps, and suggests future directions.

Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences: A Compendium of Assessment Tools [PDF 21.76MB]
Bullying, particularly among school-age children, is a major public health problem. This compendium provides researchers, prevention specialists, and health educators with tools to measure a range of bullying experiences: bully perpetration, bully victimization, bully-victim experiences, and bystander experiences. Some researchers continue to examine the risk and protective factors associated with bullying experiences. Others are working to design, implement, and evaluate bully prevention interventions aimed at reducing bully victimization and perpetration, as well as increasing prosocial bystander involvement in bullying situations. The ability to measure bullying experiences broadly and completely is crucial to the success of these activities. This compendium represents a starting point from which researchers can consider a set of psychometrically-sound measures for assessing self-reported incidence and prevalence of a variety of bullying experiences.

Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools – Second Edition [PDF 6.01MB]
This compendium provides researchers and prevention specialists with a set of tools to assess violence-related beliefs, behaviors, influences, and more than 170 measures to evaluate youth violence prevention programs. Those who are new to the field of youth violence prevention might find this compendium particularly useful. Experienced researchers will find it helpful in identifying additional measures to assess the factors associated with youth violence. Most of the measures presented in this compendium are intended for use with youths between the ages of 11 and 24 years.

Preventing Youth Violence: Opportunities for Action [PDF 2.86MB]
This report and its companion guide, Taking Action to Prevent Youth Violence [PDF 1.7MB] , make what’s known about effectively preventing youth violence accessible to all members of a community. They also identify actions each of us can take to stop youth violence before it starts.

Technology and Youth: Protecting Your Child from Electronic Aggression [PDF 161KB]
This tip sheet provides an overview of electronic aggression, any type of harassment or bullying that occurs through e-mail, a chat room, instant messaging, a website (including blogs), or text messaging. It provides parents and caregivers with strategies for protecting children from this type of violence.

Understanding Bullying [PDF 356KB]
Bullying is a form of youth violence and can result in physical injury, social and emotional distress, and even death. Victimized youth are at increased risk for mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, psychosomatic complaints such as headaches, and poor school adjustment. Youth who bully others are at increased risk for substance use, academic problems, and violence later in adolescence and adulthood. The ultimate goal is to stop bullying before it starts.

Understanding School Violence Fact Sheet [PDF 345KB]
This three-page fact sheet presents a range of information about school violence, who is at risk, what CDC is doing to prevent it, and resources to learn more.

Understanding Youth Violence: Fact Sheet [PDF 383KB]
This two-page fact sheet provides a basic overview of youth violence. It is intended for the general public.

Youth Violence: Facts at a Glance [PDF 94.17KB]
This two-page data sheet provides a basic overview of youth violence. It is intended for the general public.