Aggressive behaviors in urban African American early adolescent girls: A systematic review of the literature

Increased media attention to youth violence perpetrated by early adolescent girls over the past two decades and increased arrests of girls has disproportionately impacted girls of color, specifically African American girls. Research on issues, policies, and programs for girls of color at heightened risk for aggression and violence perpetration has remained limited. We conducted a systematic review of studies published in English from January 1999 to December 2022 to better understand and identify the types of aggressive and violent behaviors in which African American early adolescent girls in urban locations engage as well as risk and protective factors associated with identified behaviors. In our systematic search of five databases, we captured 1,206 studies that were potentially relevant to our review. Removing duplicate studies and conducting title/abstract and full-text review resulted in the identification of 20 studies that met pre-specified review eligibility criteria. Synthesis of information that was systematically extracted from these 20 included studies revealed that in a little over two decades, few studies have examined aggressive and violent behaviors among early adolescent African American girls, although such research is critical to developing effective intervention and prevention strategies to support the healthy development of this group of young people.