Differences in Abuse, Neglect, and Exposure to Community Violence in Adolescents With and Without PTSD and Depression

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (21-22) ◽  
pp. 4357-4383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jani Nöthling ◽  
Sharain Suliman ◽  
Lindi Martin ◽  
Candice Simmons ◽  
Soraya Seedat
Keyword(s):  
Community Violence ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Demographic Factors ◽  
Community Violence Exposure ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence

South African adolescents are exposed to high levels of violence and trauma, including community violence, abuse, and neglect. Violence and trauma are associated with negative mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Demographic characteristics, additional exposure to trauma, community violence, and types of childhood abuse and neglect may place adolescents at greater risk of developing PTSD. This study aimed to first assess the weighted contribution of demographic factors, trauma load, community violence, and types of abuse and neglect in predicting PTSD symptom severity. Second, we aimed to determine group differences in demographic factors, trauma load, community violence, and types of abuse and neglect among participants with no disorder, PTSD only, PTSD and depression, and depression only. Participants were 215 adolescents identified with emotional and/or behavioral problems and referred to an adolescent trauma clinic from schools in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Clinical assessments were undertaken to assess community violence exposure; physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and a clinical diagnosis of PTSD and comorbidity. Trauma-exposed adolescents with PTSD and depression reported significantly higher levels of emotional abuse and community violence exposure in comparison with trauma-exposed adolescents without a disorder. Emotional abuse, community violence exposure, and female gender were significant predictors of PTSD in regression analysis. These findings underscore the contribution of different types of trauma in the development of PTSD. Interventions focused on preventing trauma, PTSD, and depression should be multifaceted and be targeted at various levels, for example, individual/interpersonal level (reduce abuse in the household and immediate environment) and community/societal level (reduce crime rates in communities and strengthen conviction policies). Traumatized youth should routinely be screened for a history of abuse and particularly exposure to community violence, given their strong association with PTSD.

Reciprocal Relationships Between Exposure to Community Violence and Sleep Problems Across Adolescence

2020 ◽  
pp. 027243162097766
Author(s):  
Sylvie Mrug ◽  
Catheryn A. Orihuela ◽  
Alex Veerasammy
Keyword(s):  
Community Violence ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Urban Adolescents ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Community Violence Exposure ◽  
Reciprocal Relationships ◽  
Latent Trajectory ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
Over Time

Urban adolescents experience high rates of exposure to community violence, which is associated with sleep problems. However, less is known about the prospective relationships between community violence exposure and sleep problems across adolescence. This study investigated reciprocal relationships between community violence exposure and sleep problems across early, middle, and late adolescence. Participants included 84 urban adolescents (50% females, 95% African Americans) who reported on their community violence exposure and sleep problems at mean ages 13, 16, and 17. Results from an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals showed that exposure to community violence at age 13 predicted more sleep problems at age 16, but violence exposure at age 16 did not predict sleep problems at age 17. Sleep problems did not predict community violence exposure over time. These results point to early adolescence as a vulnerable period for the development of sleep problems in youth exposed to community violence.

Individual Differences in Patterns of Community Violence Exposure and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051986714
Author(s):  
Sharon F. Lambert ◽  
Rachel M. Tache ◽  
Sabrina R. Liu ◽  
Karen Nylund-Gibson ◽  
Nicholas S. Ialongo
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Behavioral Adjustment ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Community Violence Exposure ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing

Youth community violence has been linked with depressive and anxious symptoms, and aggressive behavior; however, little research has examined different combinations of emotional and behavioral adjustment among community-violence-exposed youth, or individual characteristics that may account for different patterns of emotional and behavioral adjustment in community-violence-exposed youth. This research used person-centered methods to examine how gender, temperament characteristics, and prior exposure to community violence were linked with classes of community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing adjustment among a sample of urban African American youth. Participants were 464 African American adolescents (46.7% female; mean age = 14.83, SD = .43) who reported their community violence exposure in Grade 9 and for whom reports of depressive and anxious symptoms, and aggressive behavior were available. Latent class analysis identified four classes of adolescents distinguished by their exposure to community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing behavior. The two classes with high community violence exposure were characterized by internalizing symptoms or aggressive behavior; the two classes with low community violence exposure had low internalizing symptoms with moderate aggression or had all moderate symptoms. These community violence adjustment classes were distinguished by gender, history of community violence exposure, behavioral inhibition, and fight–flight–freeze systems. Findings highlight heterogeneity in internalizing and externalizing responses of community-violence-exposed youth and suggest factors that explain community violence exposure, repeat exposure, and responses to community violence exposure.

scholarly journals Exposure to Community Violence, Psychopathology, and Personality Traits in Russian Youth

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Koposov ◽  
Vladislav Ruchkin
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Community Violence Exposure ◽  
Novelty Seeking ◽  
Severe Problem ◽  
The Us ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
Different Populations

Previous research with the US inner-city youth demonstrated the hazardous effects of community violence exposure. It remains unclear, however, whether these findings are generalizable to other cultures and populations. Furthermore, the role of factors influencing the processing of traumatic events such as personality has not been investigated. Two groups of Russian adolescents (community youth () and male delinquents ()) completed questionnaires assessing their exposure to community violence, conduct problems, internalizing psychopathology and personality. The study demonstrates that the relationships between exposure to violence and psychopathology are similar across different populations within the same culture (community youth and juvenile delinquents), suggesting similar mechanisms behind this phenomenon. The patterns of these relationships were also similar for boys and girls, suggesting similarities in the mechanisms across gender. Hence, the effects of community violence exposure are generalizable to other cultures outside the US. The associations between personality traits and specific types of behaviors also tend to be similar across different populations. Higher levels of novelty seeking were related to more severe problem behaviors and to higher levels of witnessing and victimization, whereas higher levels of harm avoidance were related to higher levels of depression and posttraumatic stress.

scholarly journals Community Violence Exposure and School Functioning in Youth: Cross-Country and Gender Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Koposov ◽  
Johan Isaksson ◽  
Robert Vermeiren ◽  
Mary Schwab-Stone ◽  
Andrew Stickley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Violence ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
School Functioning ◽  
Community Violence Exposure ◽  
New Haven ◽  
The Us ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Violent Events

Background: Many children and adolescents experience violent events which can be associated with negative consequences for their development, mental health, school, and social functioning. However, findings between settings and on the role of gender have been inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate cross-country and gender differences in the relationship between community violence exposure (CVE) and school functioning in a sample of youths from three countries.Methods: A self-report survey was conducted among school students (12–17 years old) in Belgium (Antwerp, N = 4,743), Russia (Arkhangelsk, N = 2,823), and the US (New Haven, N = 4,101). Students were recruited from within classes that were randomly selected from within schools that had themselves been randomly selected (excepting New Haven, where all students were included). CVE was assessed with the Screening Survey of Exposure to Community Violence. School functioning was assessed with four measures: the Perceived Teacher Support scale, Negative Classroom Environment scale, and Academic Motivation and Perception of Safety at School scales. Multivariate Analyses of Covariance were performed to assess differences in the levels of school-related problem behaviors in boys and girls, who reported different degrees of CVE.Results: Participants in all three countries reported a relatively high prevalence of violence exposure (36.2% in Belgium, 39.3% in Russia and 45.2% in the US who witnessed violence), with a higher proportion of girls than boys witnessing violent events (varied from 37.4 to 51.6% between the countries), whereas boys reported more episodes of victimization by violence than girls (varied from 32.3 to 49.9% between the countries). Youths who experienced increased CVE (from no exposure to witnessing to victimization) reported an increase in all school functioning problems in all of the countries and this association was not gender-specific.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that regardless of differences in the level of CVE by country and gender, violence exposure is negatively associated with school functioning across countries. Nonetheless, even though reactions to community violence among adolescents may be expressed in a similar fashion, cross-country differences in social support systems should also be taken into account in order to provide culturally sensitive treatment modalities.

Community Violence Exposure Measure

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan L. Ranney ◽  
Maureen Walton ◽  
Lauren Whiteside ◽  
Quyen Epstein-Ngo ◽  
Rikki Patton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Violence ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Community Violence Exposure
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