Common patterns of violence experiences and depression and anxiety among adolescents

A considerable amount of research has examined violence experiences and psychopathology; however, few studies have examined how multiple settings and experiences of violence are associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

The sample included 2,345 adolescents from a community-based sample in the US. The mean age was 14 years at the time that violence experiences in the home, school, and neighborhood were reported; psychiatric outcomes were assessed 2 years later using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. We applied latent class analysis to identify adolescents with common patterns of violence exposure and obtained adjusted prevalence ratios for the associations between violence classes and psychopathology.

A four-class model was selected based on fit statistics and meaningfulness, and adolescents were categorized into four classes: low violence, home violence, neighborhood violence/traumatic news, and multiple settings of violence. Relative to adolescents in the low violence class, risk of MDD for adolescents in the home violence, neighborhood violence/traumatic news, and multiple settings classes was 1.62, 1.47, and 2.44 times higher, respectively (p values <0.05); risk for GAD was 1.61 and 2.87 times higher for adolescents in the neighborhood violence/traumatic news and multiple settings classes, respectively (p values <0.05).

Exposure to a high level of violence-within a single domain or multiple domains-poses significant risk for MDD and GAD, and risk increases with high exposure in multiple domains. Thus, pervasive exposure to violence is associated with the highest risk for the development of psychopathology. Based on these results, prevention and treatment efforts should target adolescents exposed to violence in multiple settings.