Understanding the Health Consequences of Children’s Exposure to Violence

Abstract

Violence is a regular feature of children’s lives in the United States. In nationwide surveys, 37% of youth report being physically assaulted each year, and 24% report having an indirect exposure, e.g., a murder in their neighborhood. There is increasing evidence linking these childhood violence exposures with adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. Yet we know little about the mechanisms involved, and whether protective factors exist that confer resilience. In this presentation, I will discuss a series of studies that seek to fill these gaps in knowledge. The results suggest three conclusions. First, following a violence exposure, children’s monocytes show an upregulation of inflammatory activity, marked by increased responsivity to microbial challenge and decreased sensitivity to inhibitory signals. Second, these inflammatory changes are evident following both personal victimizations, e.g., being assaulted, and indirect experiences, e.g., when a murder occurs in a child’s neighborhood, but he/she has no connection to the victim. These findings suggest that even “vicarious” experiences may have health consequences. Finally, a brain network involved with self-regulation – the central executive network (CEN) – appears to protect youth from these changes. Specifically, among children with high functional connectivity of the CEN, the patterns described above are not evident – for them, violence does not portend changes in inflammatory activity, or in cardiovascular health.