The Reciprocal Effects of Community Violence Exposure and Aggression Among African American Adolescents

Relative to other adolescents, African American adolescents disproportionately experience community violence. Community violence exposure (CVE) is linked to negative outcomes, including aggression. While evidence suggests that the CVE-aggression link may be bidirectional, few studies have examined this bidirectional association and gender differences for older African American adolescents. This study examined reciprocal associations between CVE and aggression, as well as gender differences, among African American 14- to 16-year-old high school students. Study participants were African American adolescents (n = 327) living in low-resourced, urban neighborhoods in a large, midwestern city. Participants attending public high schools were recruited to participate in a preventive intervention randomized controlled efficacy trial. Data were collected at four timepoints (i.e., beginning and end of ninth grade, beginning and end of 10th grade). Random intercepts cross-lagged panel models were used to evaluate the reciprocal associations between CVE and aggression, controlling for intervention condition and age. In the model with males and females, consistent positive cross-lagged associations between CVE and aggression were found. However, for males and females separately, results differed. For males, CVE positively predicted later aggression at two of the four cross-lags, but aggression did not significantly predict later violence exposure. For females, CVE predicted later aggression at each cross-lag, but aggression did not significantly predict later CVE. Results suggest a reciprocal CVE-aggression link in African American youth, with differing associations for males and females. Findings support that both CVE and aggression are important targets for prevention programming, in addition to gender considerations.