NCJ Number
153999
Journal
JAMA Volume: 273 Issue: 6 Dated: (February 8, 1995) Pages: 477-482
Date Published
1995
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This research examined the extent to which adolescents were exposed to various types of violence as either victims or witnesses, and the association of such exposure with trauma symptoms.
Abstract
The study tested the hypotheses that exposure to violence will have a positive and significant association with depression, anger, anxiety, dissociation, posttraumatic stress, and total trauma symptoms. A survey design used an anonymous self-report questionnaire administered to students (grades 9 through 12) in six public high schools during the 1992-1993 school year. Sixty- eight percent of the students (n=3,735) who attended the participating schools during the survey participated in the survey. Ages ranged from 14 to 19 years; 52 percent were female, and 35 percent were African American, 33 percent white, and 23 percent Hispanic. All hypotheses were supported by the findings. Multiple regression analyses of the sample revealed that violence-exposure variables, and to a lesser extent demographic variables, explained a significant portion of variance in all trauma symptom scores, including depression, anger, anxiety, dissociation, posttraumatic stress, and total trauma. A significant and consistent association was shown between violence exposure and trauma symptoms within a diverse sample of high school students. Findings provide evidence of the need to identify and provide trauma-related services for adolescents who have been exposed to violence. 3 tables and 50 references