Abstract
This study examined exposure to community violence and depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms within a non-random sample of low-income, African-American male adolescents. The moderating effect of social support on these relationships was also examined. Seventy-seven African-American adolescent males were recruited from an inner-city, Midwestern high school and surveyed on exposure to violence, depression, post-traumatic stress, and social support. Regression analyses revealed that exposure to violence was significantly associated with both depressive and PTSD symptoms. However, social support was not found to moderate the relationship between exposure to community violence and psychological distress. Implications for intervention are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
United States Department of Justice. Victim Characteristics. 2002. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict_v.htm#age.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. Youth Violence: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: United States. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/default.htm
Duncan DF. Growing up under the gun: Children and adolescents coping with violent neighborhoods. J of Pri Prev 16:343–356, 1996.
Fitzpatrick K & Boldizar JP. The prevalence and consequences of exposure to violence among African-American youth. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 32:424–430, 1993.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics Reports. Deaths: Leading Causes for 2000. 50(16), 1–86, 2002.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System—United States, 2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 51(SS-14): 1–64, 2002.
Pastore DR, Fisher M, & Friedman SB. Violence and mental health problems among urban high school students. J Adolesc Health 18:320–324, 1996.
Bell CC & Jenkins EJ. Community violence and children on Chicago's Southside. Psychiatry 56:46–54, 1993.
Richters JE & Martinez P. The NIMH community violence project: children as victims of and witnesses to violence. Psychiatry 56:7–21, 1993.
Mercer DF. The effects of community violence on inner-city school-age children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. DePaul Universtiy, Chicago, IL 1993.
Fitzpatrick KM. Exposure to violence and presence of depression among low-income, African-American youth. J Consult Clin Psychol 61:528–531, 1993.
United States Bureau of the Census. Poverty in the United States: 2001, Report P-60, no. 219, Table A-2.
Blake WM & Darling CA. The dilemmas of the African-American male. J Black Studies 24:402–415, 1994.
Greene MB. Chronic exposure to violence and poverty: Interventions that work for youth. Crime & Delinquency 39:106–124, 1993.
King AEO. Understanding violence among young African-American males: An Afrocentric perspective. J Black Studies 28:79–96, 1997.
Lerner RM & Galambos NL. Adolescent development: Challenges and opportunities for research, programs, and policies. Annu Rev Psychol 49:413–446, 1998.
DuRant RH, Getts A, Cadenhead C, Emans SJ & Woods ER. Exposure to violence and victimization and depression, hopelessness, and purpose in life among adolescents living and around public housing. Dev Behav Pediatrics 16:233–237, 1995.
Lipschitz DS, Winegar RK, Hartnick E, Foote B, Southwick SM. Posttraumatic stress disorder in hospitalized adolescents: Psychiatric comorbidity and clinical correlates. J Am Acad Child & Adolesc Psychiatry 38:385–392, 1999.
Singer MI Anglin TM Song L & Lunghofer L. Adolescents' exposure to violence and associated symptoms of psychological trauma. J Am Med Assoc 273:477–482, 1995.
Lipschitz, DS, Rasmusson, AM, Anyan, W, Cromwell, P, Southwick, SM. Clinical and functional correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder in urban adolescent girls at a primary care clinic. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39:1104–1111, 2000.
Mazza JJ & Reynolds WM. Exposure to violence in young inner-city adolescents: Relationships with suicidal ideation, depression, and PTSD symptomatology. J Abnorm Child Psychol 27:203–213, 1999.
Overstreet S, Dempsey M, Graham D, Moely B. Availability of family support as a moderator of exposure to community violence. J Clin Child Psychol 28:151–159, 1999.
Pynoos RS, Nader K, Frederick C et al. Grief reactions in school age children following a sniper attack at school. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci 24:53–63, 1987.
Hill HM & Madhere S. Exposure to community violence and African American children: A multidimensional model of risks and resources. J Community Psychol 24:26–43, 1996.
Herman-Stahl M & Petersen AC. A protective role of coping and social resources for depressive symptoms among young adolescents. J Youth and Adolescence 25:733–753, 1996.
McFarlane AH, Bellissimo A, & Norman GR. The role of family and peers in social self-efficacy: Links to depression in adolescence. Am J Orthopsychiatry 65:402–410, 1995.
Muller RT, Boebel-Fabbri AE, Diamond T & Terry D. Social support and the relationship between family and community violence exposure and psychopathology among high risk adolescents. Child Abuse Negl 24:449–464, 2000.
Barrera M, Sandler IN & Ramsay TB. Preliminary development of a scale of social support: Studies on college students. Am J Community Psychol 9, 435–447, 1981.
Richters JE. Screening survey of exposure to community violence: Self report version. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health, 1990.
Cauce AM, Felner, & Primavera. Social Support Rating Scale, Unpublished manuscript. 1982.
Radloff LS. The use of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in adolescents and young adults. J Youth and Adolescence 20(2):149–166, 1991.
Richters JE & Martinez P. Checklist of child post traumatic stress symptoms: self report version. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health, 1990.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edition, revised). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1987.
Crouch JL Hanson RF Saunders BE Kilpatrick DG & Resnick HS. Income, race/ethnicity, and exposure to violence in youth: Results from the national survey of adolescents. J Community Psychol 28(6):625–641, 2000.
Armstrong TD & Costello EJ. Community studies on adolescent substance use, abuse, or dependence and psychiatric comorbidity. J Consult Clin Psychol 70(6):1224–1239, 2002.
Haliburn J. Reasons for adolescent suicide attempts. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39(1):13–14, 2000.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, text revision), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2000.
Fletcher KE. Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder. In Mash, EJ & Barkley RA eds Child Psychopathology. New York: Guilford Press, 242–276, 1996.
Broderick PC & Korteland C. Coping style and depression in early adolescence: Relationships to gender, gender role, and implicit beliefs. Sex Roles 46(7–8):201–213, 2002.
Wade TJ Cairney J Pevalin DJ. Emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence: National panel results from three countries. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 41(2):190–198, 2002.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Paxton, K.C., Robinson, W.L., Shah, S. et al. Psychological Distress for African-American Adolescent Males: Exposure to Community Violence and Social Support as Factors. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 34, 281–295 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CHUD.0000020680.67029.4f
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CHUD.0000020680.67029.4f