Exposure to violence in multiple contexts and post-traumatic stress symptoms: A study with adolescents

Journal title MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA
Author/s Gaetana Affuso, Dario Bacchini, Serena Aquilar, Grazia De Angelis, Maria Concetta Miranda
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2014/2
Language Italian Pages 21 P. 13-33 File size 115 KB
DOI 10.3280/MAL2014-002002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Recent research studies have shown the association between exposure to violence and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS). The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of this relationship, examining the specific association between the different contexts of violence (home, school, neighborhood, media) and the status of violence (victim, witness), and PTS symptoms. Moreover we evaluated the cumulative effects of the simultaneous exposure to violence in multiple contexts. The study involved 725 adolescents, attending the first year of secondary school. Results revealed that: i) increasing of exposure to violence leads to a corresponding heightened PTS symptoms; ii) all violent contexts, except those related to media, are significantly and positively associated with PTS symptoms; iii) both being victim and being witness of violence were significantly associated with PTS symptoms; iv) there was a response-dose effect of the exposure to multiple sources of violence on PTS symptoms

Keywords: Adolescence, community violence, family violence, school violence, posttraumatic stress.

  1. ISTAT - Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (2012). Rapporto annuale. La situazione del paese nel 2012 [National Institute of Statistics. Annual report. The situation of the country in 2012] (documento internet: http://www.ristretti.it/commenti/2013/gennaio/pdf6/istat_giustizia.pdf).
  2. Janson, G. R., & Hazler, R. J. (2004). Trauma reactions of bystanders and victims to repetitive abuse experiences. Violence and Victims, 19, 239-255, DOI: 10.1891/vivi.19.2.239.64102
  3. Lansford, J. E., Alampay, L. P., Al-Hassan, S., Bacchini, D., Bombi, A. S., Bornstein, M., Chang, L., Deater-Deckar, K., Di Giunta, L., Dodge, K. A., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Runyan, D. K., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., Uribe Tirado, L. M., & Zelli, A. (2010). Corporal punishment of children in nine countries as a function of child gender and parent gender. International Journal of Pediatrics, 1-12, DOI: 10.1155/2010/672780
  4. Lynch, M. (2003). Consequences of children’s exposure to community violence. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 65-274, DOI: 10.1023/B:CCFP.0000006293.77143.e1
  5. Margolin, G., & Vickerman, K. (2011). Post-traumatic stress in children and adolescents exposed to family violence: I. Overview and issues. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 1(S), 63-73, DOI: 10.1037/0735-7028.38.6.613
  6. Margolin, G., Vickerman, K. A., Oliver, P. H., & Gordis, E. B. (2010). Violence exposure in multiple interpersonal domains: Cumulative and differential effects. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 198-205. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.01.020
  7. Milan, S., Zona, K., Acker, J., & Turcios-Cotto, V. (2013). Prospective risk factors for adolescent PTSD: Sources of differential exposure and differential vulnerability. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41, 339-353, DOI: 10.1007/s10802-012-9677-9
  8. Mrug, S., Loosier, P., & Windle, M. (2008). Violence exposure across multiple contexts: Individual and joint effects on adjustment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78, 70-84, DOI: 10.1037/0002-9432.78.1.70
  9. Muris, P., Meesters, C. (2008). Reactive and regulative temperament in youths: Psychometric evaluation of the early adolescent temperament questionnaire-revised. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 31, 7-19, DOI: 10.1007/s10862-008-9089-x
  10. Ng-Mak, D. S., Salzinger, S., Feldman, R., & Stueve, C. A. (2004). Pathologic adaptation to community violence among inner-city youth. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74, 196-208, DOI: 10.1037/0002-9432.74.2.196
  11. Osofsky, J. D. (1995). The effects of exposure to violence on young children. American Psychologist, 50, 782-788.
  12. Proctor, L. J. (2006). Children growing up in a violent community: The role of the family. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11, 558-576, DOI: 10.1016/j.avb.2005.12.004
  13. Schwartz, D., & Proctor, L. J. (2000). Community violence exposure and children’s social adjustment in the school peer group: The mediating roles of emotion regulation and social cognition. Journal of Counselling and Clinical Psychology, 68, 670-683, DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.68.4.670
  14. Shahinfar, A., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Matza, L. S. (2001). The relation between exposure to violence and social information-processing among incarcerated adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 136-141, DOI: 10.1037//0021-843X.110.1.136
  15. Stein, B. D., Jaycox, L., Kataoka, S. H., Rhodes, H., & Vestal, K. D. (2003). Prevalence of child and adolescent exposure to community violence. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 247-264, DOI: 10.1023/B:CCFP.0000006292.61072.d2
  16. Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics Scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75-88.
  17. Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Finkelhor, D., Moore, D. W., & Runyan, D. (1998). Identification of child maltreatment with the parent-child Conflict Tactics Scales: Development and psychometric data for a national sample of American parents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 22, 249-270, DOI: 10.1016/S0145-2134(97)00174-9
  18. Weems, C. F., Taylor, L. K., Cannon, M. F., Marino, R. C., Romano, D. M., Scott, B. G., Perry, A. M., & Triplett, V. (2010). Post-traumatic stress, context, and the lingering effects of the Hurrican Katrina disaster among ethnic minority youth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 49-56, DOI: 10.1007/s10802-009-9352-y
  19. Weist, M. D., Acosta, O. M., & Youngstrom, E. A. (2001). Predictors of Violence Exposure Among Inner-City Youth. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 30, 187-198, DOI: 10.1207/S15374424JCCP3002_6
  20. Ziv, Y. (2012). Exposure to violence, social information processing, and problem behavior in preschool children. Aggressive Behavior, 38, 429-441, DOI: 10.1002/ab.21452
  21. Armour, C., Elhai, J., Layne, C., Shevlin, M., Durakoviæ-Belko, E., Djapo, N., & Pynoos, R. S. (2011). Gender differences in the factor structure of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in war-exposed adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 604-611, DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.01.010
  22. Bacchini, D., Affuso, G., & De Angelis, G. (2013). Moral vs. non-moral attribution in adolescence: Environmental and behavioural correlates. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10, 221-238, DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2012.744744
  23. Bacchini, D., Miranda, M. C., & Affuso, G. (2011). Effects of parental monitoring and exposure to community violence on antisocial behavior and anxiety/depression among adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 269-292, DOI: 10.1177/0886260510362879
  24. Briere, J., & Lanktree, C. B. (1995). The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC): Preliminary psychometric characteristics. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychiatry, University of Southern California School of Medicine.
  25. Cyr, K., Chamberland, C., Lessard, G., Clément, M. E., Wemmers, J. A., Collin-Vézina, D., Gagné, M. H., & Damant, D. (2012). Polyvictimization in a child welfare sample of children and youths. Psychology of Violence, 2, 385-400, DOI: 10.1037/a0028040
  26. Davies, P. T., Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: an emotional security hypothesis. Pychological Bulletin, 116, 387-411.
  27. Di Blasio, P., Piccolo, M., & Traficante, D. (2011). TSCC, Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children. Traduzione e validazione italiana. Trento: Erickson.
  28. Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., & Lynam, D. (2006). Aggression and antisocial behavior in youth. In Eisenberg, N. (Vol. Ed.) & William, D. & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 719-788). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, DOI: 10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0312
  29. Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 39, 349-37, DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.39.2.349
  30. Doron-LaMarca, S., Vogt, D. S., King, D. W., King, L. A., & Saxe, G. N. (2010). Pretrauma problems, prior stressor exposure, and gender as predictors of change in post-traumatic stress symptoms among physically injured children and adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 781-793, DOI: 10.1037/a0021529
  31. Ellis, L. K., & Rothbart, M. K. (2001). Revision of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire. Poster presented to the biennal meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
  32. Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R. K., Turner, H. A., & Hamby, S. L. (2005). The victimization of children and youth: A comprehensive, national survey. Child Maltreatment, 10, 5-25, DOI: 10.1177/1077559504271287
  33. Flannery, D. J., Wester, K. L., & Singer, M. I. (2004). Impact of exposure to violence in school on child and adolescent mental health and behavior. Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 559-573, DOI: 10.1002/jcop.20019
  34. Fowler, P. J., Tompsett, C. J., Braciszewski, J. M., Jacques-Tiura, A. J., & Baltes, B. B. (2009). Community violence: A meta-analysis on the effect of exposure and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 227-259, DOI: 10.1017/S0954579409000145
  35. Gini, G., & Pozzoli, T. (2013). Bullied children and psychosomatic problems: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics. Published online, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-1215
  36. Gorman-Smith, D., & Tolan, P. (1998). The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 101-116.
  37. Guzzo, G., Lo Cascio, V., Pace, U., Craparo, G., & Schimmenti, A., (2013). Bullying victimization, post-traumatic symptoms, and the mediating role of alexithymia. Child Indicators Research, 7, 141-153, DOI: 10.1007/s12187-013-9206-6
  38. Henrich, C. C., Schwab-Stone, M., Fanti, K., Jones, S. M., & Ruchkin, V. (2004). The association of community violence exposure with middle-school achievement: A prospective study. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 327-348, DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2004.04.004
  39. Ho, M. Y., & Cheung, F. M. (2010). The differential effects of forms and settings of exposure to violence on adolescents’ adjustment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 1309-1337, DOI: 10.1177/0886260509340548
  40. Ionio, C., Olivari, M. G., & Confalonieri, E. (2013). Eventi traumatici in adolescenza: risposte psicologiche e comportamentali. Maltrattamento e abuso all’infanzia, 15, 87-99, DOI: 10.3280/MAL2013-002005

  • Attaccamento e bullismo: un confronto tra bulli, vittime, bulli-vittime e non-coinvolti in età scolare Lorenza Di Pentima, Sara Ramelli, in MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL'INFANZIA 2/2020 pp.119
    DOI: 10.3280/MAL2020-002007
  • The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology pp.197 (ISBN:9781108678971)
  • Children and Peace Dario Bacchini, Concetta Esposito, pp.157 (ISBN:978-3-030-22175-1)
  • The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology Christopher M. Thompson, Corinne C. Datchi, Lakeesha Eure, pp.289 (ISBN:9781108678971)
  • The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers, (ISBN:9781108678971)

Gaetana Affuso, Dario Bacchini, Serena Aquilar, Grazia De Angelis, Maria Concetta Miranda, Esposizione alla violenza in contesti multipli e sintomi post-traumatici da stress: uno studio con adolescenti in "MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA" 2/2014, pp 13-33, DOI: 10.3280/MAL2014-002002