Children's Self Perception of Violence Exposure and Behavior Outcomes

Young children have significant rates of exposure to violence. Youth violence is the second leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 18 years (http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html, accessed 01/19/2010). This study examined children's self report of violence in three environments: family, school, and community and associated problem behaviors. The hypothesis of the study was that childhood exposure to violence was associated with increased self-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The study participants included 409, primarily African American (86%), 3rd-5th graders, mean age 9.6 years (+ 1.1). The instruments used included the Children's Report of Exposure to Violence (CREV; community violence exposure measure) (Cooley, Turner, and Beidel, 1995), Family Conflict and combined Cooperation and Self-Control subscales from the Multicultural Events Schedule for Adolescents (MESA) (Gonzales, Gunnoe, Jackson, Samaniego, and Jackson, 1995), Seeking Spiritual Support subscale from Adolescent Coping for Problem Experiences (ACOPE) (Schwarzer and Schwarzer, 1996) and Youth Self Report Problematic Behaviors (YSR) (Achenbach & Dumenci, 2001). Statistically significant correlations were found between the YSR total score and community violence exposure (0.33; p<0.01), school and peer stress (0.56; p<0.01), and family conflict (0.47; <0.01). Logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, socioeconomic status, and race, demonstrated statistically significant associations between violence exposure across the three environments and internalizing and externalizing behavior reports. Family conflict exposure had the highest risk for externalizing behaviors OR=2.07 (95% CI=1.53-2.81). Identification of children with a history of violence exposure, especially family conflict, may result in early treatment and reduction of child behavior problems.