[Psychometric properties of a direct violence scale and its behavioral mediation]

The lack of valid instruments to assess direct violence (DV) limits the understanding of its impact on mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use.

To validate an expanded DV subscale as an autonomous measure in Mexican adolescents and to examine its association with PTSD and abusive alcohol consumption (AAC) through a mediation model.

A quantitative study with a mediation analysis approach was conducted in a sample of 3963 adolescents aged 14 to 19 from eleven Mexican cities. A subset of items from the DV factor of the Exposure to community violence in aolescents scale was used, with the addition of three context-specific items and the response format. PTSD symptoms and AAC were also assessed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed, along with a mediation model.

Findings support the psychometric validity of the standalone EVDA-10 scale. Mediation analysis showed that physical-verbal violence was significantly associated with AAC, through the PTSD symptom of intrusion.

The study highlights the relevance of trauma-related symptoms as intermediate mechanisms explaining the impact of violence on risk behaviors, and underscore the need for early detection and trauma-informed interventions targeting post-traumatic symptoms in adolescents.