Pathways from witnessing community violence to mental health problems among South African adolescents

Community violence in neighborhoods and common mental disorders among Brazilian adolescents

BACKGROUND

This study aims to explore the association between exposure to neighborhood violence and the presence of common mental disorders (CMDs) among Brazilian adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. Additionally, we aim to analyze whether sex, age and race are modifiers of the effect of this association.

METHODS

The study comprised 1,686 adolescents residing in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, situated in the Southeast region of Brazil. To measure exposure to community violence, we constructed three crime indicators using data from Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro: crimes against property, nonlethal crimes, and lethal crimes. Employing geospatial analysis based on the adolescents' residence location, logistic regression modeling was performed to measure the association between violence and CMDs.

RESULTS

Adolescents living in regions with higher rates of the three types of violence studied herein were more likely to have CMDs, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 2.33 to 2.99. When stratified by sex, age and race, girls, older adolescents and blacks have a greater magnitude of effect on the measure of association, indicating a heightened risk for CMDs.

CONCLUSION

This study provides important contributions to the public health field, as it reveals new information on the influence of community violence on the mental health of adolescents. Given the elevated rates of violence globally, knowing the effects of such violence on adolescents becomes crucial for the prevention and treatment of CMDs within this population.

Colombian Adolescents’ Perceptions of Violence and Opportunities for Safe Spaces Across Community Settings

During adolescence, access to safe environments is critical for healthy development. This study analyzed adolescents’ perceptions of safety in personal and public spaces in the semi-rural community of Santa Ana, Colombia on the Island of Barú (95.8% of inhabitants live in poverty). We used thematic analysis to explore adolescents’ experiences and reflections to identify the factors influencing their perception of safety across different community spaces. Four gender-segregated focus group discussions were held with 40 adolescents (20 male and 20 female) from ages 13 to 17 ( M = 14.4, SD = 1.2). Most of them self-identified as Black (86%). The more recurrent spaces in the adolescents’ conversations were the streets, the school, the local sports field, individual homes, and commercial sound system parties known as “Picos.” Adolescents perceived the school as the safest space, while the “Picos” were the most unsafe. The other spaces were considered mixed, meaning that their perceived safety shifts and depends on the presence of certain factors. These factors were risky behaviors, group affiliation, designated authority roles and the relevance of time. The authors discuss the importance of addressing the factors that inform adolescents’ safety perception, particularly within low resource settings cross-culturally.

Understanding the Mechanisms through Which Family Risk Affects Adolescent Mental Health: A Model of Multisystemic Resilience in Context

There is substantial evidence that exposure to family adversity significantly and negatively impacts positive adolescent development by placing adolescents at increased risk of experiencing developmental difficulties, including conduct problems. Although the mechanisms responsible for these effects are still largely unknown, a novel line of inquiry in the resilience field conceptualizes positive adaptation, following exposure to atypical adversity, as resulting from complex interactions of systems at multiple ecological levels. The purpose of the present analysis was to apply this multisystemic resilience framework to the study of positive adaptation following exposure to family adversity in a sample of Canadian adolescents (n = 230; mean age 16.16, SD = 1.38) and South African adolescents (n = 421; mean age = 15.97, SD = 1.19) living in economically volatile communities dependent on the oil and gas industry. Cross-sectional survey data were used to investigate the mechanisms through which family adversity exercises its impact on adolescent conduct problems by accounting for their caregiving, peer, and community resources. Results of two moderated mediation analyses showed that family adversity impacts adolescent externalizing mental health negatively, via disrupted caregiving, when other resources are also considered. For the Canadian adolescents, these negative impacts were protectively moderated by peer support, but not moderated by appreciation for community traditions. In contrast, peer support showed no significant protective effect for the South African sample, while a strong appreciation for community traditions was positively and significantly associated with conduct difficulties. Contextual dynamics (e.g., social unrest) provide a plausible explanation for the discrepant results and bring attention to the importance of theorizing resilience in context.

Community violence and internalizing mental health symptoms in adolescents: A systematic review

PURPOSES

Mental disorders are responsible for 16% of the global burden of disease in adolescents. This review focuses on one contextual factor called community violence that can contribute to the development of mental disorders OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of community violence on internalizing mental health symptoms in adolescents, to investigate whether different proximity to community violence (witness or victim) is associated with different risks and to identify whether gender, age, and race moderate this association.

METHODS

systematic review of observational studies. The population includes adolescents (10-24 years), exposition involves individuals exposed to community violence and outcomes consist of internalizing mental health symptoms. Selection, extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two researchers.

RESULTS

A total of 2987 works were identified; after selection and extraction, 42 works remained. Higher exposure to community violence was positively associated with internalizing mental health symptoms. Being a witnessing is less harmful for mental health than being a victim. Age and race did not appear in the results as modifiers, but male gender and family support appear to be protective factors in some studies.

CONCLUSION

This review confirms the positive relationship between community violence and internalizing mental health symptoms in adolescents and provides relevant information that can direct public efforts to build policies in the prevention of both problems.

Exploring exposure to intertwined community violence among Uruguayan adolescents using a mixed-method approach

Building on the case of adolescents (aged 12-16 years) from underprivileged neighborhoods in Montevideo, two studies explore patterns of exposure to community violence among understudied South American youth. Applying a mixed-methods approach, the first study (n = 117) used principal component analysis to examine response patterns on a self-reported exposure to community violence scale. The second study examined subjective experience, drawing from focus group discussions with adolescents (n = 27) and their teachers (n = 22). Events were clustered into three components: indirect violence, traumatic violence, physical/verbal abuse, and robbery. Participants described the severity of violence in relation to chronic exposure, processes of naturalization, and permeable boundaries among the neighborhood, school, family, and social media networks. Violence chronicity and potential threats to life appear to be central dimensions in community violence reporting. Delimitating the study of community violence based on the setting or perceptual closeness has limited socioecological relevance.

Association between schizoid tendencies and aggressive behaviors: mediating and moderating influences in childhood trauma and life events among Chinese adolescents

BACKGROUND

This study investigated an association between schizoid tendencies and aggressive behaviors in Chinese adolescents, and explored the underlying mechanism.

METHODS

The data of 3094 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years were collected from an epidemiological survey in China. All the subjects or their parents completed the Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, and the Adolescent Self-rating Life Event Checklist (ASLEC).

RESULTS

Relative to the non-schizoid group, adolescents with schizoid tendencies (male or female) showed significantly higher scores for aggressive behaviors, emotional abuse, and ASLEC. Regarding females only, those with schizoid tendencies had significantly higher (lower) scores for physical abuse and emotional neglect (physical neglect). The aggressive behaviors score was predicted by scores for schizoid tendencies (β_male = 0.620, β_female = 0.638, both P < 0.001) and ASLEC (β_male = 0.125, β_female = 0.061, both P < 0.01), and by childhood trauma score (males: emotional neglect [β = 0.045, P = 0.021]; females: emotional abuse and sexual abuse [β = 0.118 and - 0.062, both P < 0.01]). The ASLEC and childhood trauma scores mediated the association between scores for schizoid tendencies and aggressive behaviors, specifically, emotional neglect (emotional abuse and sexual abuse) in males (females). In females, the interaction between scores for childhood trauma and ASLEC affected the aggressive behaviors score (P = 0.023).

CONCLUSIONS

Schizoid tendencies are associated with aggressive behaviors among Chinese adolescents. Recent life events and childhood trauma mediated an association between schizoid tendencies and aggressive behaviors. The interaction between childhood trauma and recent life events affected aggressive behaviors in females. Aggressive behaviors in adolescents may be ameliorated by reducing childhood trauma and life events.