ORIGINAL ARTICLE
No Safe Haven II: The Effects of Violence Exposure on Urban Youth

https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199904000-00007Get rights and content
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ABSTRACT

Objective

To examine the moderating effects of gender, grade level, and ethnicity on the associations between violence exposure and adolescents' internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior and to explore whether such relationships persist over time.

Method

A survey of adolescents' exposure to violence, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing behavior was administered to 2 cross-sectional samples of 6th, 8th, and 10th graders (N = 2,748 in 1994 and 2,600 in 1996) in an urban school system. Approximately 1,100 adolescents participated in both surveys and served as the longitudinal sample.

Results

Structural equation models indicated that violence exposure was closely associated with both externalizing behavior (r = 0.74–0.79) and internalizing symptoms (r = 0.36–0.38). The strength of association was similar across gender and ethnic groups. However, violence exposure was more closely related with internalizing symptoms for younger adolescents than their older counterparts. The longitudinal analysis suggested that exposure to violence reported at time 1 was related to adolescents' internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior 2 years later.

Conclusions

These results document high levels of violence exposure for urban youths and indicate links to a range of psychiatric symptoms and indicators of poor adjustment. Such findings carry implications for direct clinical work with young people, as well as for program development and public policy. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 1999, 38(4):359–367.

Key Words

violence exposure
internalizing symptoms
externalizing behavior
adolescents

Cited by (0)

Data collection was supported by the William T. Grant Foundation. The authors gratefully acknowledge the New Haven Public Schools, especially Superintendent Dr. Reginald Mayo and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Verdell Roberts; Andrya M. Crossman, who contributed to many aspects of the manuscript preparation; and Margaret Nygren and Beverly Crowther for their assistance in data collection and management.