The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth

Abstract

While research has well documented that urban youth are exposed to increasing rates of community violence, little is known about what increases risk for violence exposure, what protects children from exposure to violence, and what factors reduce the most negative outcomes associated with witnessing violence. This study expands on current research by evaluating the relations between exposure to violence, family relationship characteristics and parenting practices, and aggression and depression symptoms. Data were drawn from a sample of 245 African-American and Latino boys and their caregivers from economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods in Chicago. Rates of exposure could not be predicted from family relationship and parenting characteristics, although there was a trend for discipline to be related. Exposure to community violence was related to increases in aggressive behavior and depression over a 1-year period even after controlling for previous status. Future studies should continue to evaluate the role of exposure to violence on the development of youth among different neighborhoods and communities. Implications for intervention and policy are discussed.

Risk Factors for Community Violence Exposure in Adolescence

“…In this study, parental monitoring displayed a protective effect against exposure to community violence for aggressive males with high anxiety symptoms. Although consistent with qualitative research examining parenting behavior and neighborhood violence (e.g., Jarrett, 1999), this finding differs from prior quantitative studies of parental monitoring and exposure to community violence (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998;Miller et al, 1999). An important difference in the present study is that parental monitoring was examined in combination with youth behaviors; our results suggest that the utility of parental monitoring for protecting youth against community violence exposure depends on youth behavioral characteristics.…”

“…First, this study examined community violence exposure among a community epidemiologically defined sample of adolescents. In contrast, the majority of prior research examining factors associated with community violence exposure has used high-risk samples (e.g., Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998;Weist et al, 2001); therefore, results from those studies may not generalize to community samples. Second, few studies have examined factors that place youth at risk for exposure to community violence.…”

“…Qualitative studies of parenting strategies for families living in dangerous contexts reveal that increased monitoring and restricting youth behavior are means parents use to protect youth from exposure to community violence (Dubrow & Garbarino, 1988;Furstenberg et al, 1993). However, quantitative studies have not yielded empirical support for associations between parental monitoring and community violence exposure (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998;Miller, Wasserman, Neugebauer, Gorman-Smith, & Kamboukos, 1999). It is possible that the benefit of parental monitoring may be greatest for those youth at high risk for exposure to community violence, but not for all youth.…”

“…Youth aggression, anxiety, and depression have been identified as correlates and consequences of community violence (Cooley-Quille et al, 2001;DuRant et al, 1994;Freeman et al, 1993;Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998). However, relatively little is known about whether these behaviors also are antecedent to community violence exposure.…”

Trauma, Proximity, and Developmental Psychopathology: The Effects of War and Terrorism on Children

“…Moreover, the US is home to growing numbers of child and adolescent refugees who have been exposed to war and terrorism at first hand (US Committee for Refugees, 2004). Finally, large subpopulations of American children have been exposed to violent acts through circumstances endemic to some geographic areas in America, such as portions of large urban areas (Gorman-Smith and Tolan, 1998).…”