NCJ Number
213902
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 183-198
Date Published
April 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the relationships among adolescent community violence exposure (CVE), parental mental health, and adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and depression.
Abstract
Results indicated that parental mental health moderated the relationship between adolescent CVE and adolescent PTSD, but not the relationship between adolescent CVE and depression. These results remained significant after controlling for demographic variables and family violence exposure. Other findings suggested that females had higher levels of psychological symptomatology related to CVE than males. Clinical implications are discussed and include the observation that practitioners who work with urban adolescents should take a multifocal approach that evaluates violence exposure across multiple environments and screens for family psychological history. Participants were 121 junior and senior high school students and their parents/guardians. Participants were recruited through their schools because they resided in urban neighborhoods with high rates of violent crimes. Parents and students completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing violence exposure and various aspects of mental health functioning, including trauma and depression symptoms. Data were analyzed using zero-order correlations and hierarchical regression analyses. Future research should explore the factors that promote resilience or positive outcomes for adolescents exposed to violence. Tables, figure, references