Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Pathologic adaptation to community violence among inner-city youth
Daisy S Ng-Mak1, Suzanne Salzinger, Richard S Feldman
1Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Abstract:
The study tests the thesis of pathologic adaptation for youth exposed to community violence, where high levels of exposure to community violence lead to increased aggressive behavior but decreased psychological distress. Four hundred seventy-one 6th graders and 1 of their parents were interviewed. The results showed, for a small but important subgroup of youth, that high levels of exposure to community violence were associated with more child- and parent-reported aggressive behavior and less child-reported psychological distress. Targeted prevention strategies for these high-risk youth are especially needed.
Related Concept Videos
Conduct Disorder
Bullying
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Aggression
Robbers Cave
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
