Witnessing community violence and its consequences: Changes across middle school

Community violence exposure is prevalent among youth in economically marginalized communities and has been associated with concurrent adverse consequences. Few studies have applied a developmental psychopathology framework to examine developmental processes that account for relations between witnessing community violence and adjustment over time. This study used latent curve models to examine associations between changes across middle school in witnessing community violence frequency and changes in distress and aggression. Data were collected in four waves during each grade of middle school. Participants were 1323 students (54.3% female, 17.5% Latine, 88.3% African American/Black) attending middle schools in neighborhoods with high violence rates. A piecewise latent curve model indicated that the frequency of witnessing community violence decreased during middle school, with the steepest decline during the 6th grade and significant decreases in frequency during the summer. Initial witnessing violence frequency was positively correlated with baseline distress and aggression, and changes in witnessing violence were positively correlated with changes in distress and aggression during some grades. Implications for interventions and theory are discussed.