skip to main content

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Friday, September 13 until 2:00 AM ET on Saturday, September 14 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Title: Gun Violence Exposure and Posttraumatic Symptoms Among Children and Youth
Abstract

Although statistics on youth homicide and injury from gun violence are available, little research has focused on how gun violence overlaps with other victimizations or on the psychological impact of gun violence on children. Pilot survey data were collected on the experiences of 630 U.S. children (age range: 2–17 years) from Boston, Philadelphia, and rural areas of eastern Tennessee. Youth aged 10–17 years completed a self‐report survey on a wide range of gun violence exposures, and parents of younger children (aged 2–9 years) completed the survey as a proxy for that child. Direct gun violence exposure, witnessing gun violence, and hearing gunshots were all significantly associated with other forms of victimization,rs = .10–.38,p < .001. The findings suggest that youth who experience direct gun violence are often exposed to multiple violent contexts. For older youth (ages 10–17 years) polyvictimization was most strongly associated with posttraumatic symptoms, β = .35,p< .001, although witnessing gun violence still uniquely predicted a higher level of symptoms, β = .18,p< .01. For younger children (ages 2–9 years), hearing and witnessing gun violence were both related to posttraumatic symptoms, β = .15,p< .01 for both, even after controlling for polyvictimization. Mental health professionals and trauma‐informed services should be mindful that the traumatic impact of gun violence for children may not necessarily be attached to direct victimization experiences but may also result from simply seeing or hearing it in their neighborhoods.

 
more » « less
NSF-PAR ID:
10456901
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Traumatic Stress
Volume:
32
Issue:
6
ISSN:
0894-9867
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 881-889
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Research has shown that experiencing a hurricane can lead to internalizing, externalizing, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in children. However, the effects of experiencing two hurricanes within a short time frame have not been examined. Moreover, there is limited research examining how children's coping is linked to their psychological functioning and no research using the empirically supported conceptualization of coping that includes primary control coping (i.e., attempts to control the stressor) and secondary control coping (i.e., attempts to adapt to the stressor). This study examined the psychological functioning of 108 children and adolescents (69.7% Black, Non‐Hispanic; 56.5% female;Mage = 11.59 years,SD= 2.43) in Grades 3–12 as measured 3 months after experiencing Hurricanes Irma and Maria on the island of St. Thomas. Participants completed electronic questionnaires about their demographic characteristics, hurricane exposure (i.e., perceived life‐threat, life‐threatening events, loss/disruption after hurricanes), coping strategies utilized, and their psychological functioning (i.e., PTS, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms). A principal component analysis of the coping items determined four coping factors: primary control, secondary control, disengagement, and negative coping. Linear regressions, including children's age and aspects of hurricane exposure, found primary control coping was positively associated with PTS symptoms, β = .18, whereas secondary control coping was negatively associated with PTS and externalizing symptoms, βs = −.17 and −.19, respectively. Negative coping, but not disengagement coping, was positively associated with all three outcomes, βs = .31–.42. These findings suggest positive ways children can cope after experiencing a hurricane, informing possible early intervention efforts.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    In Colombia, many adolescents have experienced violence related to the decades‐long armed conflict in the country and have witnessed or been directly victimized by violence in their communities, often related to gang activity or drug trafficking. Exposure to violence, both political and community violence, has detrimental implications for adolescent development. This study used data from 1857 Colombian adolescents in an urban setting. We aim to understand the relations between exposure to violence and adolescent outcomes, both externalizing behaviors and developmental competence, and then to understand whether school climate (i.e., safety, connectedness, services) moderates these relations. Results demonstrate that armed conflict, community violence victimization, and witnessing community violence are positively associated with externalizing behaviors, but only armed conflict is negatively associated with developmental competence. School safety, connectedness, and services moderate the relation between community violence witnessing and externalizing behaviors. School services moderates the relation between community violence victimization and developmental competence. As students perceived more positive school climate, the effects of community violence exposure on outcomes were weakened. This study identifies potential levers for intervention regarding how schools can better support violence‐affected youth through enhancements to school safety, connectedness, and services.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    This study sought to characterize depressive symptoms among mothers in Latino farmworker families, determine if maternal depression increases children's risk of obesity, and ascertain whether relevant risk factors such as physical activity, diet, and feeding style mediate this relationship. Mothers from 248 families completed the 10‐item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale 9 times over a 2‐year period. Four distinct patterns were used to describe mothers: few symptoms, moderate episodic symptoms, severe episodic symptoms, and chronic symptoms. Approximately two‐thirds of women experienced moderate symptoms of depression at least once. Children of mothers fitting each pattern were compared. At the end of the study, children of mothers with severe episodic and chronic symptoms were significantly more likely to be overweight and obese than children of mothers with few symptoms (p < .05). After controlling for covariates, differences in weight status for children of mothers with severe episodic symptoms remained significant. Children of mothers with either moderate episodic or chronic symptoms were fed in a less responsive fashion (p < .05), and children of chronically symptomatic mothers had lower diet quality (p < .01). Although nonresponsive feeding has been linked to childhood obesity, in this analysis, feeding style did not mediate the relationship between maternal depression and diet quality. Elevated levels of depressive symptoms are common in this population, and those symptoms, especially when severe or chronic in nature, may increase children's risk of obesity. Additional research is needed to characterize the pathways through which maternal depression influences children's weight.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods, are increasing in frequency and scope. Youth exposed to disasters are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, not all youth who report initially elevated PTSS report persistent PTSS that last beyond the first three to six months postdisaster. Thus, it is crucial to understand how and why youth differ in their patterns of PTSS. This study reviewed the literature on children's postdisaster PTSS, evaluating the typical number and types of patterns for children's PTSS trajectories, as well as risk and protective factors predicting trajectory membership. This review identified eight empirical studies on youth PTSS trajectories following natural disasters; these studies included 8,306 children aged 3 to 18 years. All studies identified resilience, recovery, and chronic trajectories. Evidence for a delayed trajectory was mixed. Proportions of children falling into each trajectory varied widely across studies, but overall, resilience was the most prevalent trajectory. These findings were consistent across study factors (i.e., analytic strategy, assessment timing, and study selection criteria). Female gender, disaster exposure, negative coping, and lack of social support were significant risk factors for chronic trajectories across several studies. Future research should combine individual level participant data across studies of children's responses to disasters to better understand PTSS trajectories.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    The present study investigated bidirectional relations between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms, with a focus on three forms of victimization (physical, verbal, relational) and two types of internalizing symptoms (depressive, anxious). In the fall and spring, children (N = 1,264–1,402 fourth and fifth graders depending on time point and data source) reported on their victimization, and teachers reported on children’s depressive and anxious symptoms. In a model including the broad constructs of victimization and internalizing symptoms, bidirectional relations emerged, with earlier victimization predicting increases in later internalizing symptoms and earlier internalizing symptoms predicting increases in later victimization. These bidirectional relations did not hold in two additional models, the first of which included the three forms of victimization and internalizing symptoms and the second of which included victimization and the two types of internalizing symptoms. Rather, results of the first model suggested that earlier internalizing symptoms predicted later physical, verbal, and relational (marginal) victimization, and the second model did not fit the data well. Findings are discussed in terms of implications of bidirectional relations between victimization and internalizing symptoms.

     
    more » « less