No safe haven II: The effects of violence exposure on urban youth

Objectives: To examine the moderating effects of gender, grade level, and e thnicity on the associations between violence exposure and adolescents' int ernalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior and to explore whether such relationships persist over time. Method: A survey of adolescents' exposure to violence, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing behavior was adminis tered to 2 cross-sectional samples of 6th, 8th, and 10th graders (N = 2,748 in 1994 and 2,600 in 1996) in an urban school system. Approximately 1,100 adolescents participated in both surveys and served as the longitudinal sam ple. Results: Structural equation models indicated that violence exposure w as closely associated with both externalizing behavior (r = 0.74-0.79) and internalizing symptoms (r = 0.36-0.38). The strength of association was sim ilar across gender and ethnic groups. However, violence exposure was more c losely related with internalizing symptoms for younger adolescents than the ir older counterparts. The longitudinal analysis suggested that exposure to violence reported at time 1 was related to adolescents' internalizing symp toms and externalizing behavior 2 years later. Conclusions: These results d ocument high levels of violence exposure for urban youths and indicate link s to a range of psychiatric symptoms and indicators of poor adjustment. Suc h findings carry implications for direct clinical work with young people, a s well as for program development and public policy.