Bidirectional Relations between Witnessing Violence, Victimization, Life Events, and Physical Aggression among Adolescents in Urban Schools

Early adolescent development in the face of violence: A systematic review running

BACKGROUND

Exposure to violence has severe and lasting effects on development. Despite the body of research examining childhood exposures to violence and victimization, developmental outcomes during early adolescence are poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE

To synthesize existing research on the effects of violence exposure on early adolescent development (youth 9-14 years old) and highlight areas for future research.

METHOD

We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and EMBASE for articles published between 2012 and 2023. Included articles focused on violence exposure related to experiencing or observing community violence, witnessing domestic violence and/or being the victim of chronic physical abuse.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight articles spanning four developmental domains were included: behavioral, biological, neurological, and social development. Behaviorally, violence exposure posed significant effects on both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Biologically, violence exposure was strongly associated with advanced epigenetic age, accelerated puberty, and insomnia. Neurologically, violence exposure had significant associations with both structural and functional differences in the developing brain. Socially, violence exposure was related to poor school engagement, peer aggression, and low social support.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review highlights varying effects of violence exposure on early adolescent development. The gaps presented should be addressed and implemented into clinical practice via evidence-based policies and procedures to ensure successful transition to adulthood.

Is lifetime abuse forgivable in old age?

Old age is characterized by reflection and a retrospective examination of the multiple meanings of various life experiences, including lifelong abuse. Forgiveness is found to have a salutary effect, especially for older adults. To understand the place and role of forgiveness in the reflective process during aging, we performed a secondary analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews (N = 78) with older women survivors of abuse. Inductive thematic analysis was based on concepts developed deductively from the literature review. The findings include three main themes: (1) The dimensions of forgiving: The victim as subject; (2) Being forgiven: Between lost forgiveness and hope; and (3) Self-forgiveness and the aging self. Despite the known salutary effect of forgiveness, we must consider that this is not a universally desirable process. We included the dimension of forgiveness in the study of abuse throughout the older person's life course and identified further complexities in addition to the "forgiveness"/"unforgiveness."

Effects of stress on school bullying behavior among secondary school students: Moderating effects of gender and grade level

This study investigated the effects of stress on school bullying behaviors among middle school students, and the moderating role of gender and grade level in this relationship. To this end, the Olweus Child Bullying Questionnaire (OBVQ) secondary school version of the child bullying questionnaire and the stressor scale for secondary school students were used to survey 3,566 secondary school students in Guizhou Province, and the data were statistically analyzed. Results showed that stress was significantly and positively associated with school bullying among secondary school students. Furthermore, both gender and grade moderated the relationship between stress and school bullying, showing that boys and middle school children are more likely to engage in bullying than girls and high school students, respectively. The results of the study provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and intervention of school bullying behaviors among middle school students.

Beliefs About Aggression as Mediators of Relations Between Community Violence Exposure and Aggressive Behavior Among Adolescents: Review and Recommendations

Adolescents who are exposed to community violence are at risk for a number of adverse consequences that can persist into adulthood. Community violence exposure has consistently been associated with subsequent aggressive behavior, and beliefs or norms about aggression are one potential mechanism underlying this relation. The goal of this review was to examine and synthesize the literature regarding beliefs about aggression as a mediator of relations between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior among adolescents. A systematic search of the literature identified 10 studies that met inclusion criteria. Findings across studies generally supported the notion that beliefs about aggression mediate relations between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior. However, studies varied considerably in their design and analytic approach which limited conclusions that can be drawn. Because studies were similar in their limitations, several themes were identified and described qualitatively: inappropriate design to examine mediation (i.e., failure to establish temporal precedence of variables); examining a unidimensional construct of general beliefs about aggression; and lack of examining potential differences across subgroups, particularly across sex. Recommendations for future research that will bolster the evidence include drawing on advances in data analytic techniques, investigating multiple aspects of beliefs about aggression, examining differences in mediated effects across subgroups, and investigating beliefs as mechanisms of change in intervention studies. Implications for violence prevention efforts are discussed.

Patterns of community violence exposure among urban adolescents and their associations with adjustment

Community violence exposure is prevalent among urban and marginalized adolescents. Although there is strong evidence that community violence exposure is associated with negative consequences, prior studies and theories suggest that these associations may differ as a function of specific characteristics of exposure. This study identified patterns of community violence exposure that differed in form (witnessing vs. victimization), familiarity with the victim, and severity, and in their associations with adolescents' frequency of physical aggression and anxiety symptoms. Participants were 681 eighth-grade adolescents (58% female, 95% African American). Latent class analysis identified five subgroups who reported distinct patterns of violence exposure: limited exposure; witnessed less severe violence, not victimized; witnessed severe violence, not victimized; witnessed less severe violence, some victimization; and high violence exposure. The witnessed less severe, some victimization, and high violence exposure subgroups reported the highest frequency of physical aggression and levels of anxiety compared with all other subgroups. The limited exposure subgroup reported the lowest frequencies of physical aggression. The findings suggest that the form of exposure (witnessing or victimization) is an important distinction in examining associations with adolescent adjustment. Limited support was found for differences related to familiarity with the victim and severity of violence.

Gender Moderates the Association Between Exposure to Interpersonal Violence and Intermittent Explosive Disorder Diagnosis

Exposure to interpersonal violence (EIV) is a prevalent risk-factor for aggressive behavior; however, it is unclear whether the effect of EIV on clinically significant aggressive behavior is similar across gender. We examined whether gender moderates the association between experiencing and witnessing interpersonal violence and the diagnosis of intermittent explosive disorder (IED). We also examined potential pathways that might differentially account for the association between EIV and IED in men and women, including emotion regulation and social information processing (SIP). Adult men and women (N = 582), who completed a semistructured clinical interview for syndromal and personality disorders, were classified as healthy controls (HC; n = 118), psychiatric controls (PC; n = 146) or participants with an IED diagnosis (n = 318). Participants also completed the life history of experienced aggression (LHEA) and life history of witnessed aggression (Lhwa) structured interview and self-report measures of emotion regulation and SIP. Men reported more EIV over the lifetime. In multiple logistic regression analysis, experiencing and witnessing aggression within the family and experiencing aggression outside the family were associated with lifetime IED diagnosis. We found that the relationship between EIV and IED was stronger in women than in men. Affective dysregulation mediated certain forms of EIV, and this relation was observed in both men and women. SIP biases did not mediate the relation between EIV and IED. EIV across the lifespan is a robust risk factor for recurrent, clinically significant aggressive behavior (i.e., IED). However, the relationship between EIV and IED appears to be stronger in women. Further, this relation appears partially mediated by affective dysregulation.

Protective factors for suicidal ideation among Black adolescents indirectly exposed to community violence

OBJECTIVE

Community violence exposure has been identified as a risk factor for Black youth suicide ideation. However, little is known about factors that protect community violence exposed youth against suicide ideation. The current study examined associations between knowledge of family member and peers' community violence exposure and Black youth's subsequent suicidal ideation, and investigated self-worth and social support as protective factors.

METHOD

Participants were a community sample of Black youth (N = 447, 47.4% female; Mage = 11.77, SD = 0.35) who reported about community violence exposure, self-worth, social support, and suicide ideation in grades 6 and 7.

RESULTS

Regression analyses revealed that grade 6 knowledge of family member and peers' community violence exposure was associated with increases in suicide ideation assessed in grade 7. Self-worth attenuated the association between knowledge of others' community violence exposure and suicide ideation for male adolescents. For female adolescents, social support attenuated the association between knowledge of others' community violence and suicide ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the consequential impact of knowledge about community violence for Black youth's suicidal ideation. Enhancing protective factors for Black youth is an important target for intervening with exposure to violence and reducing suicide ideation.

Examining the protective effects of social capital and social support on the perpetration of violence among a national sample of adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Millions of children witness violence and are victims of violence each year. Previous research suggests that this is a risk factor for perpetrating violence. There is a paucity of studies that examine factors that protect violence-exposed youth from perpetrating violence.

METHODS

This study used a panel design to measure the effects of exposure to violence on the perpetration of violence. It examined the protective effects of social support and school social capital on the risk of exposure to violence, using multivariate logistic regression modelling. The sample was weighted to reflect a national population.

RESULTS

The median age of the sample was 15. When considering risk factors only, those who 'saw someone shoot or stab another person' were at 4.77 times (95% CI 3.19 to 7.13) greater risk for perpetrating interpersonal violence. In the full model (risk and protective factors, (N=8375)), those with lower school social capital were at 2.43 (95% CI 1.15 to 5.15) to 2.91 (95% CI 1.02 to 8.29) times greater risk of perpetrating violence compared with those with the highest school social capital; adding the protective factors into the model reduced the odds of perpetrating violence from 4.77 times to 3.47 times (95% CI 1.97 to 6.11) (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

On a national level, the protective effects of school social capital could translate to a substantial reduction of violence. School-wide policies and programmes that reach all adolescents in a school and promote social capital should be pursued as a strategy to prevent the perpetration of interpersonal violence.

Peer Factors as Mediators of Relations Between Exposure to Violence and Physical Aggression in Middle School Students in a Low-Income Urban Community

Objective

Although prior research has demonstrated that peers influence both physical aggression and exposure to violence during adolescence, few studies have investigated the extent to which peers play a role in relations between physical aggression and violence exposure. This longitudinal study examined peer pressure for fighting, friends' delinquent behavior, and friends' support for fighting as mediators of relations between exposure to violence through witnessing and victimization, and adolescents' frequency of physical aggression.

Method

Participants were 2,707 adolescents attending three urban middle schools (Mage = 12.4; 52% female; 79% African American, 17% Hispanic/Latino). Participants completed measures of their frequency of physical aggression, witnessing community violence, victimization by violence, and negative life events, and peer variables at four waves within the same school year.

Results

Cross-lagged analyses indicated that the role of peer variables as mediators varied as a function of the type of exposure and the direction of effects. Whereas peer pressure for fighting mediated relations between witnessing violence and changes in physical aggression, friends' delinquent behavior mediated relations between physical aggression and changes in witnessing violence and victimization. In contrast, violent victimization was not associated with changes in any of the peer factors when included in the same model as witnessing violence.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the role of peers as both a cause and a consequence of adolescents' aggressive behavior and exposure to violence. They suggest focusing on peer variables as targets for interventions to disrupt connections between exposure to violence and physical aggression during early adolescence.

Beliefs as Mediators of Relations Between Exposure to Violence and Physical Aggression During Early Adolescence

This study examined beliefs about aggression and self-efficacy for nonviolent responses as mediators of longitudinal relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression. Participants were a predominantly African American (79%) sample of 2,705 early adolescents from three middle schools within urban neighborhoods with high rates of violence. Participants completed measures across four waves (fall, winter, spring, and summer) within a school year. Beliefs supporting proactive aggression, beliefs against fighting, and self-efficacy for nonviolence partially mediated relations between witnessing violence and physical aggression. Indirect effects for beliefs supporting proactive aggression and self-efficacy were maintained after controlling for victimization and negative life events. Beliefs supporting proactive aggression mediated the effects of violent victimization on physical aggression, but these effects were not significant after controlling for witnessing violence and negative life events. The findings underscore the importance of examining the unique pathways from witnessing community violence versus violent victimization to physical aggression.

Patterns of Community Violence Exposure among African American Adolescents Living in Low-Resourced Urban Neighborhoods

African American adolescents living in neighborhoods with concentrated economic disadvantage are disproportionately exposed to community violence. This study builds upon previous research and examines patterns, severity, and chronicity of violence exposure, within a sample of African American adolescents living in low-resourced, urban neighborhoods (n = 327). The influence of both individual- and contextual-level factors on community violence exposure (CVE) is examined. Data were collected across four time points at 6-month intervals. Latent transition analysis identified three patterns of CVE at each time point: low witnessing and low victimization (LW-LV), high witnessing and low victimization (HW-LV), and high witnessing and high victimization (HW-HV), as well as transitions between each class. Although a stable LW-LV class membership over time was the most prevalent pattern, most adolescents experienced some change in exposure. Nearly one-third of the participants were classified in the HW-HV group at some point in time. Analyses on individual- and contextual-level factors revealed that more depressive symptoms, community problems (e.g., drugs, graffiti, noise), or community resources (e.g., schools, parks, recreational facilities) were associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing high levels of violent victimization. Implications for intervention and prevention of CVE are discussed.