SRA Blog: Exposure to Community Violence and Mental Health Outcomes in Adolescents
In her latest blog post for Society for Research on Adolescence, BUSSW doctoral student Kendall Johnson explains why curbing community violence is essential to teens’ mental health.
July 21, 2019 | By Kendall Johnson
The following text is an excerpt.
It has been well researched that urban adolescents are exposed to high amounts of community violence, which can affect their overall and mental well-being. Over 85% report witnessing some type of violence in their lifetime, and over 60% have been victims of violent acts. With such high levels of violence exposure, the youth living in these communities have lived lives that are characterized by repeated violence that is present at school, at home and out in the neighborhood. It also speaks to the fact that violence exposure is a common aspect of growing up.
This is problematic because youth who are exposed to violence are susceptible to developing symptoms of aggression, depression, anxiety, and substance use. Understanding how the mental health outcomes affect those exposed to community violence can improve treatment and support for them.
The impact of the relationship between exposure to community violence and mental health outcomes can be great. For example, struggling with mental health can lead to poorer academic performance, which in turn can affect graduation rates and opportunities to achieve success as an adult. Previous studies have found a significant, positive correlation between exposure and externalizing symptoms (such as aggression or rule-breaking), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and internalizing behaviors (such as depression or anxiety). It has been reported that the strengths of correlations between exposure to community violence and depressive symptoms range from weak to moderate. The most consistent findings in respect to mental health are the findings related to externalizing symptoms and PTSD. […]
Full article from the Society for Research on Adolescence blog: https://s-r-a.org/applications/exposure-community-violence-mental-health-outcomes-adolescents/