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Witnessing Community Violence in Youth and Susceptibility to the Common Cold in Adulthood

Yeon Sik Jang¹, Jessica Chiang

¹Department of Psychology, Georgetown University (Jang, Chiang), Washington, District of Columbia.

Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine

|April 14, 2026

Abstract

Objective:

The current study investigated the relationship between witnessing community violence in youth and susceptibility to the common cold in adulthood, using Common Cold Project data.

Methods:

Two hundred twelve adults (42% female, aged 18 to 55) recalled witnessing community violence in youth (ages 5, 10, 15) retrospectively, completed other demographic and psychosocial measures, and were then subsequently exposed to a virus that causes the common cold. After exposure, if participants displayed both infection and signs of illness, they were diagnosed with the common cold.

Results:

Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that witnessing community violence in youth was related to greater susceptibility to the common cold in adulthood [b (SE)=0.75 (0.30), OR=2.11, 95% CI=1.18, 3.83, p =.012)] when controlling for current socioeconomic status, early socioeconomic status, prechallenge serostatus, race/ethnicity, age, and sex. This relationship continued to be significant when adjusting in separate models for (1) BMI and season of viral challenge; (2) current health, health behaviors, and perceived stress; and (3) early physical, social, and safety of neighborhood environments and stressful home settings.

Conclusions:

Witnessing community violence in youth may be an important risk factor for susceptibility to the common cold in adulthood.

Keywords:

adult health early adversity infectious disease witnessing community violence

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Low early life socioeconomic status and susceptibility to the common cold in adulthood: The moderating role of negative affective reactivity.

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association·2023

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