Exposure to Violence and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Urban Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 165724
• Journal: Adolescence Volume: 31 Issue: 122 Dated: (Summer 1996) Pages: 489-498
• Author(s): M W Berton; S D Stabb
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated variables associated with the incidence of symptomatology characteristic of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents in a major metropolitan area.

Abstract

A total of 103 high school juniors completed the Keane PTSD Scale, the Civilian Mississippi Scale for PTSD, and a demographic questionnaire was completed by 97 high school juniors; 29 percent of the latter group indicated clinical levels of PTSD symptomatology. Comparisons of incidence were made with regard to gender, ethnicity, family constellation, self-reported exposure to violence, self-reported exposure to trauma, and incidence of violent crime in the vicinity of school attendance. Results revealed that minority males were exposed in their neighborhoods and schools to more violent crime than were any other group. A gender effect in response to violent crime was evident. In the school with the highest rates of murder, assault, and individual robbery, boys achieved low to mid-range PTSD scores, and girls obtained the highest PTSD scores, indicating that girls may react to violence with more symptoms of PTSD than boys. 47 references