Urban Adolescent Mothers Exposed to Community, Family, and Partner Violence: Is Cumulative Violence Exposure a Barrier to School Performance and Participation?

• NCJ Number: 233882
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 21 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 750-773
• Author(s): Angie C. Kennedy; Larry Bennett
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The authors of this study assessed urban adolescent mothers exposure to community, family, and parter violence.

Abstract

Using a risk and resilience perspective, the authors assessed urban adolescent mothers' exposure to community, family, and partner violence and analyzed the relationships between cumulative violence exposure and multiple school outcomes, within the context of welfare reforms. Positive attitude toward school and social support were examined as moderators of violence exposure on school outcomes. The author's pilot tested the questionnaire with 10 participants, and then surveyed 120 adolescent mothers regarding their violence exposure, school performance and participation, positive attitude toward school, and social support. Results indicate very high rates of lifetime exposure to violence; intercorrelations and regression analyses indicate that as violence exposure increases, school outcomes tend to worsen, with positive attitude toward school found to be a significant moderator of the effects of exposure to community violence on behavior problems in school. Implications for researchers, practitioners, school policies and programs, and welfare policies and programs conclude the article. (Published Abstract) Tables, appendix, and references