Effects Of Community Violence Exposure Research Articles

Lower Perceived Neighborhood Collective Efficacy Indirectly Influences the Association Between Perceived Maternal Exposure to Community Violence and Household Food Insecurity.

Individuals of color and of low socioeconomic status are at greater risk of experiencing community violence and food insecurity, which are both influenced by neighborhood conditions. We evaluated neighborhood collective efficacy as a linkage between community violence exposure and household food insecurity. Mothers from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study who completed phone surveys when the child was 3 (time 1, T1) and 5 years old (time 2, T2) were included (n = 2068). A covariate-adjusted structural equation model estimated direct and indirect effects of community violence exposure on household food insecurity. A covariate-adjusted multiple mediator model estimated the indirect effects of the 2 neighborhood collective efficacy subscales (informal social control; social cohesion and trust). At T1, 40% of mothers reported community violence exposure; 15% experienced food insecurity at T2. Mean neighborhood collective efficacy (range 1-5) at T1 was 2.44 (SD = 0.94). Neighborhood collective efficacy indirectly influenced the association between community violence exposure and food insecurity (indirect effect = 0.022, 95% CI = 0.007 to 0.040). Only social cohesion and trust contributed independent variance to the indirect effect model (indirect effect = 0.028, 95% CI = 0.001 to 0.056). Community-based efforts to reduce household food insecurity should emphasize building social cohesion and trust in communities experiencing violence.

Marginal structural models for estimating the longitudinal effects of community violence exposure on youths' internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Longitudinal observational data pose a challenge for causal inference when the exposure of interest varies over time alongside time-dependent confounders, which often occurs in trauma research. We describe marginal structural models (MSMs) using inverse probability weighting as a useful solution under several assumptions that are well-suited to estimating causal effects in trauma research. We illustrate the application of MSMs by estimating the joint effects of community violence exposure across time on youths' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Our sample included 4,327 youth (50% female, 50% male; 1.4% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 34.7% Black, 46.9% Hispanic, .8% Native American, 14.3%, White, 1.5%, Other race/ethnicity; Mage at baseline = 8.62, range = 3-15) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Wave 3 internalizing symptoms increased linearly with increases in Wave 2 and Wave 3 community violence exposure, whereas effects on externalizing symptoms were quadratic for Wave 2 community violence exposure and linear for Wave 3. These results fail to provide support for the desensitization model of community violence exposure. MSMs are a useful tool for researchers who rely on longitudinal observational data to estimate causal effects of time-varying exposures, as is often the case in the study of psychological trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Structural School Characteristics and Neighborhood Risk Factors: Associations with Student-Reported School Climate in a Large, Urban Public School District in the United States.

School climate consistently predicts youth academic success, social-emotional well-being, and substance use, and positive school climate can buffer the negative effects of community violence exposure on youth development. Various structural school and neighborhood factors have been associated with school climate, but prior research has not examined these relations comprehensively. We examined the relation between 18 school building and school neighborhood factors with student-reported school climate among 15,833 students in 124 public schools in a large, urban district in the United States. In this sample, attendance rate was most consistently associated with school climate (β = 0.015; p < .001). Teacher years of experience, mobility rate, number of students in special education, adult arrests in the school neighborhood, and service calls for shootings and dirty streets and alleys in the school neighborhood were also significantly associated with various domains of school climate. These findings highlight the need for future longitudinal research on the influence of both school building and school neighborhood factors on school climate for public schools. Schools in our sample had a wide range of school climate scores despite consistently high crime rates and other structural risk factors such as low socioeconomic status throughout the city, so there are implications for researchers and education leaders to work together to identify opportunities for schools to foster positive school climate despite systemic school and/or neighborhood risk factors.

Associations between childhood exposure to community violence, child maltreatment and school outcomes

ObjectivesThis study examined whether physical abuse and community violence exposure (CVE) at age 5 were independently associated with academic performance at age 9, whether these effects were mediated by externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and whether the effects of CVE on mental health and academic performance were observed after accounting for the effects of physical abuse. MethodsData were drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Bayesian factor analysis was conducted in Mplus to form latent factors for internalizing behavior, externalizing behavior, and academic performance. Path analysis was then used to examine direct and indirect associations between CVE, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and academic performance. ResultsCVE at age 5 was independently negatively associated with academic performance at age 9. Physical abuse at age 5 was not independently associated with academic performance at age 9. The effects of CVE and physical abuse on academic performance were mediated by externalizing behavior, and not internalizing behavior. CVE, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior all had a direct negative association with academic performance, after accounting for the effects of physical abuse on externalizing behavior. Conclusions and ImplicationsThe findings confirmed that community violence has a negative impact on school performance above and beyond the effects of interpersonal violence. These findings reinforce the need for communitywide prevention programs that reduce violence. These findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to how younger children are impacted by CVE and physical abuse, both through their own experiences or the experiences of their caregivers.

Risk or resource: Does school climate moderate the influence of community violence on children's social-emotional development in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Exposure to community violence is thought to create risk for the social and emotional development of children, including those children living in low-income, conflict-affected countries. In the absence of other types of community resources, schools may be one of the few community resources that can help buffer children from the negative effects of community violence exposure. We sampled 8,300 students ranging in age from 6-18years in 123 schools from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to examine whether and how two distinct dimensions of positive school climate can protect two key features of children's social-emotional development in the presence of community violence. Multi-level models tested the hypothesis that students' perceptions of a positive school climate moderated the relation between community violence and self-reported mental health problems and peer victimization. Findings support the hypothesis. Specifically, a positive school climate protected against mental health problems and peer victimization in the presence of high community violence. Students who experienced high community violence and a negative school climate generally demonstrated the worst development. We find complex interactions between the dimensions of school climate and exposure to violence on student social-emotional development that highlight the salience of children's contexts for developmental studies in low-income countries. We use dynamic developmental systems theory and differential impact to discuss the dual potential of schools as a buffer against the effects of violence or as a source of compounded risk.

Positive School Climate as a Moderator of Violence Exposure for Colombian Adolescents.

In Colombia, many adolescents have experienced violence related to the decades-long armed conflict in the country and have witnessed or been directly victimized by violence in their communities, often related to gang activity or drug trafficking. Exposure to violence, both political and community violence, has detrimental implications for adolescent development. This study used data from 1857 Colombian adolescents in an urban setting. We aim to understand the relations between exposure to violence and adolescent outcomes, both externalizing behaviors and developmental competence, and then to understand whether school climate (i.e., safety, connectedness, services) moderates these relations. Results demonstrate that armed conflict, community violence victimization, and witnessing community violence are positively associated with externalizing behaviors, but only armed conflict is negatively associated with developmental competence. School safety, connectedness, and services moderate the relation between community violence witnessing and externalizing behaviors. School services moderates the relation between community violence victimization and developmental competence. As students perceived more positive school climate, the effects of community violence exposure on outcomes were weakened. This study identifies potential levers for intervention regarding how schools can better support violence-affected youth through enhancements to school safety, connectedness, and services.

Community Violence Exposure, Conduct Problems, and Oppositional Behaviors Among Latino Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Academic Performance

The current literature examining how community violence exposure (CVE) differentially relates to oppositional behaviors and conduct problems, as well as factors that impact this link, is limited. Further research is needed to examine these relationships to understand the etiologies of these disorders and what factors can buffer the effects of CVE, particularly among Latino youth. Accordingly, the current study examined relations between CVE, conduct problems, and oppositional behaviors, and whether academic performance moderated these effects. The researchers examined these relations in a sample of 144 Latino adolescents (54% male, ages 14–19). Participants completed a survey that included self-report measures on CVE and conduct problems. Participants’ teachers reported on oppositional behaviors and academic performance. Results indicated that CVE was associated with conduct problems, but not oppositional behaviors. Additionally, academic performance was found to moderate the association between CVE and conduct problems, such that at low levels of academic performance, CVE was associated with more conduct problems. CVE was uniquely associated with conduct problems and not oppositional behaviors. Additionally, results of the current study contributes to the literature by suggesting CVE is associated with conduct behaviors when academic performance is low.

Community violence exposure and substance use: cross-cultural and gender perspectives

The negative effects of community violence exposure on child and adolescent mental health are well documented and exposure to community violence has been linked both to a number of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Our aim was, therefore, to investigate cross-cultural and gender differences in the relationship between community violence exposure and substance abuse. A self-report survey was conducted among 10,575, 12–18 year old adolescents in three different countries, Czech Republic (N = 4537), Russia (N = 2377) and US (N = 3661). We found that in all three countries both substance use and problem behavior associated with it increased similarly along with severity of violence exposure and this association was not gender-specific. It was concluded that in spite of the differences in the levels of violence exposure and substance use cross-culturally and by gender, the pattern of their association is neither culturally nor gender bound.

Posttraumatic Stress, Family Functioning, and Externalizing in Adolescents Exposed to Violence: A Moderated Mediation Model

Exposure to community violence disproportionately impacts low-income, minority youth and is associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms and maladaptive adjustment. This study investigates whether posttraumatic stress mediates the relation between exposure to community violence and externalizing symptoms and the moderating role of family cohesion and daily family support in buffering these effects on later externalizing. Low-income, African American 7th-grade students (M age = 12.57 years; N = 254) from high-crime neighborhoods participated in a 2-year longitudinal study measuring the effects of community violence exposure. The students completed questionnaires administered by research staff over 5 consecutive days for each year of the study. Family cohesion and daily family support exhibited a significant buffering effect for several outcomes. Posttraumatic stress significantly mediated the effect of witnessing community violence on subsequent aggression. The strength of these indirect effects depended on level of family cohesion. The findings provide evidence in support of interventions provided at both individual and family levels. Mental health providers working with this population should be aware of the intertwined nature of exposure to community violence, posttraumatic stress, and subsequent maladaptive outcomes.

The protective role of maternal racial socialization for African American adolescents exposed to community violence.

Urban African American youth's disproportionate exposure to community violence and increased risk for its adverse consequences have heightened interest in identifying protective factors that mitigate the effects of community violence exposure for these youth. Thus, the present study examined whether maternal racial socialization messages protect African American adolescents against the adverse effects of community violence exposure. Participants were a community sample of African American adolescents (N = 106; mean age = 15.41 years) and their female guardians. For community-violence-exposed youth, maternal racial socialization messages protected against aggressive behaviors and depressive symptoms, such that maternal messages about cultural pride attenuated the association between community violence exposure and parent-reported aggressive behaviors, and cultural appreciation of legacy messages attenuated the association between community violence exposure and adolescent-reported depressive symptoms. Findings highlight the need to integrate race-relevant factors into preventive interventions targeting African American youth at risk for or exposed to community violence, and suggest that family interventions promoting parents' efficacy to implement racial socialization practices are useful for youth exposed to violence.

Community violence exposure and severe posttraumatic stress in suburban American youth: risk and protective factors.

The psychological effects of community violence exposure among inner-city youth are severe, yet little is known about its prevalence and moderators among suburban middle-class youth. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of community violence exposure among suburban American youth, to examine associated posttraumatic stress and to evaluate factors related to severe vs. less severe posttraumatic stress, such as co-existing internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as the effects of teacher support, parental warmth and support, perceived neighborhood safety and conventional involvement in this context. Data were collected from 780 suburban, predominantly Caucasian middle-class high-school adolescents in the Northeastern US during the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA) study. A substantial number of suburban youth were exposed to community violence and 24% of those victimized by community violence developed severe posttraumatic stress. Depressive symptoms were strongly associated with higher levels and perceived teacher support with lower levels of posttraumatic stress. Similar to urban youth, youth living in suburban areas in North American settings may be affected by community violence. A substantial proportion of these youth reports severe posttraumatic stress and high levels of comorbid depressive symptoms. Teacher support may have a protective effect against severe posttraumatic stress and thus needs to be further assessed as a potential factor that can be used to mitigate the detrimental effects of violence exposure.

Community Violence and Racial Socialization

The present study investigated the links between community violence exposure (witnessing and direct victimization) and racial socialization and psychological well-being in a sample of 281African American college students (76% female). We predicted that community violence exposure would be negatively related to psychosocial well-being. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the dimensions of racial socialization, cultural socialization and preparation for bias, would mitigate the effects of community violence exposure on psychosocial well-being. Consistent with the research hypotheses, the results from this study show that racial socialization buffers the effects of community violence exposure on mental health outcomes. Implications for assessing exposure to community violence and how racial socialization may mitigate psychosocial well-being are discussed.

Conduits from community violence exposure to peer aggression and victimization: Contributions of parental monitoring, impulsivity, and deviancy.

Community violence exposure results in heightened risk for engaging in and being a victim of interpersonal violence. Despite this robust literature, few studies have specifically examined how the relation between community violence exposure, peer aggression, and victimization is modified by individual, peer, and familial influences (considered jointly). In the current study, we used risk and resiliency theory to examine links between community violence exposure and peer aggression and victimization. Impulsivity and parental monitoring were examined as potential moderators of the link between community violence exposure and outcomes, both directly and indirectly via deviant behavior. Survey data on bullying involvement, fighting, deviancy, parental monitoring, and impulsivity were collected on 3 occasions over an 18-month period among a large cohort of adolescents (N = 1,232) in 5th-7th grades. Structural equation modeling suggests that for both male and female adolescents, impulsivity exacerbates the effects of community violence exposure by increasing involvement in deviant behavior. Parental monitoring buffered the effects of community violence exposure on perpetration and victimization (for males and female adolescents) via reduced involvement in deviant behavior. Findings suggest that impulsivity and parental monitoring are implicated in modifying the effects of community violence exposure on both victimization and perpetration through deviancy, although deviancy is not as potent of a predictor for victimization. Thus, prevention efforts would seem to be optimally targeted at multiple ecological levels, including parental involvement and peer networks.

Community Violence Exposure and Adolescent Delinquency: Examining a Spectrum of Promotive Factors.

This study examined whether promotive factors (future expectations, family warmth, school attachment, and neighborhood cohesion) moderated relationships between community violence exposure and youth delinquency. Analyses were conducted using N = 2,980 sixth to eighth graders (M age = 12.48; 41.1% males) from a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse sample. After controlling for demographic factors, delinquency was positively associated with community violence exposure and inversely associated with each of the promotive factors. When interaction effects between all promotive factors and community violence exposure were examined simultaneously, only future expectations moderated the relationship between community violence exposure and delinquency. Specifically, community violence exposure had a weaker association with delinquency for youth reporting high versus low levels of future expectations. Results indicate that while promotive factors from family, school, and neighborhood domains are related to lower rates of delinquency, only future expectations served as a protective factor that specifically buffered youth from the risk effects of community violence exposure.

Examining the Developmental Process of Risk for Exposure to Community Violence Among Urban Youth

Considerable research has documented the effects of community violence exposure on adolescents' behavior and mental health functioning, yet there has been less research on the process by which early risks increase the likelihood that youth will be exposed to community violence. The current study used data from a community epidemiologically defined sample of 623 urban youth followed from 1st grade through adolescence to examine the process by which early-onset aggressive behavior and poor academic readiness influenced risk for community violence exposure. Consistent with transactional developmental theories, early-onset aggressive and disruptive behavior was associated with poor academic readiness; these early risks contributed to later peer rejection, and subsequent conduct problems and greater affiliation with deviant peers, which in turn increased youths' exposure to community violence. Having an enhanced understanding of the risk process directs attention to potential targets for preventive interventions for youth at risk for subsequent exposure to violence.

Social Support and Social Constraints Moderate the Relation between Community Violence Exposure and Depressive Symptoms in an Urban Adolescent Sample

This longitudinal study examined whether the perceived availability of adult social support and low levels of adult social constraints in talking about violence could potentially mitigate the positive relation between community violence exposure and depressive symptoms among 216 inner-city youth (45% male, 92% African American). The majority of youth (90%) reported witnessing violence or being victimized at least once in the prior year. Perceived social support, social constraints, and depressive symptoms were assessed at two waves via self-report, eight months apart. Longitudinal regression analyses controlling for baseline depressive symptoms revealed interactive effects of community violence exposure and both social variables on depressive symptoms. Violence exposure at Time 1 was positively related to Time 2 depressive symptoms among youth with high levels of social constraints or low levels of social support, but not among youth with low levels of social constraints or high levels of social support. ...

Exposure to Community Violence, Psychopathology, and Personality Traits in Russian Youth

Previous research with the US inner-city youth demonstrated the hazardous effects of community violence exposure. It remains unclear, however, whether these findings are generalizable to other cultures and populations. Furthermore, the role of factors influencing the processing of traumatic events such as personality has not been investigated. Two groups of Russian adolescents (community youth (N = 546) and male delinquents (N = 352)) completed questionnaires assessing their exposure to community violence, conduct problems, internalizing psychopathology and personality. The study demonstrates that the relationships between exposure to violence and psychopathology are similar across different populations within the same culture (community youth and juvenile delinquents), suggesting similar mechanisms behind this phenomenon. The patterns of these relationships were also similar for boys and girls, suggesting similarities in the mechanisms across gender. Hence, the effects of community violence exposure are generalizable to other cultures outside the US. The associations between personality traits and specific types of behaviors also tend to be similar across different populations. Higher levels of novelty seeking were related to more severe problem behaviors and to higher levels of witnessing and victimization, whereas higher levels of harm avoidance were related to higher levels of depression and posttraumatic stress.

Effects of Community Violence Exposure and Parental Mental Health on the Internalizing Problems of Urban Adolescents

Previous research has documented an association between adolescent community violence exposure (CVE) and poor psychological functioning. The purpose of this study is to delineate the relations of CVE, parental mental health, and adolescent PTSD and depression. Participants consisted of 121 pairs of junior high and high school students and their parents. Adolescents completed measures to assess their history of violence exposure and current psychological functioning. Parents completed a demographic questionnaire and measures assessing their psychological functioning. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, and results indicated that, after controlling for demographic variables and family violence exposure, parental mental health emerged as a moderating variable in the relation between CVE and adolescent-rated PTSD, but not in the association between adolescent CVE and depression. Clinical implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

Effects of Community Violence Exposure and Parental Mental Health on the Internalizing Problems of Urban Adolescents

Effects of Community Violence Exposure and Parental Mental Health on the Internalizing Problems of Urban Adolescents