Witnessing community violence and its consequences: Changes across middle school
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Witnessing community violence, common in marginalized youth, initially linked to distress and aggression. However, its frequency decreased through middle school, with corresponding changes in youth adjustment over time.
Area Of Science
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
- Criminology
Background
- Community violence exposure is a significant issue for youth in economically marginalized areas.
- Previous research indicates adverse consequences, but few studies explore developmental pathways linking violence exposure to long-term adjustment.
Purpose Of The Study
- To examine the developmental processes linking witnessing community violence to youth adjustment over time using a developmental psychopathology framework.
- To investigate the associations between changes in the frequency of witnessing community violence and changes in distress and aggression during middle school.
Main Methods
- Latent curve models were employed to analyze longitudinal data from 1323 middle school students (54.3% female, 17.5% Latine, 88.3% African American/Black) in high-violence neighborhoods.
- Data were collected across four waves during each grade of middle school.
Main Results
- A piecewise latent curve model revealed a decrease in the frequency of witnessing community violence throughout middle school, with the most significant decline in 6th grade and during summer breaks.
- Initial levels of witnessing violence were positively correlated with baseline distress and aggression.
- Changes in witnessing violence frequency were positively associated with changes in distress and aggression during specific grade levels.
Conclusions
- The study highlights a dynamic relationship between community violence exposure and youth adjustment, with decreasing exposure potentially leading to improved outcomes.
- Findings have implications for developing targeted interventions and refining theoretical models of youth development in violent environments.
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