NCJ Number
180227
Journal
Pediatric Adolescent Medicine Volume: 152 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 531-536
Date Published
1998
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the degree to which exposure to violence and symptoms of psychological trauma are related to adolescents' own violent behaviors.
Abstract
The study involved the administration of an anonymous self-report questionnaire to students in six public high schools (grades 9-12). Sixty-eight percent of the students who were attending the participating schools during the survey participated in the study (n=3,735). Ages ranged from 14 to 19 years; 52 percent were female; and 35 percent were African American, 33 percent white, and 23 percent Hispanic. Multiple regression analysis determined that exposure to violence and symptoms of psychological trauma together explained more than 50 percent of the variance in both male and female self-reported violent behavior. The independent effects of exposure to violence explained about one-quarter of the variance in both male and female adolescents' violent behaviors. Anger was found to be the leading trauma symptom. These findings suggest that health clinicians and other professionals who work with adolescents should routinely screen them for both exposure to violence and symptoms of anger. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 43 references