Violence exposure and mental health of adolescents in small towns: An exploratory study

Thus study explores the impact of violence exposure on the mental health of the adolescents in a rural small town. A structured questionnaire was used to survey 347 adolescents. Violence experienced and witnessed by the adole scents at school, in the neighbourhood, and at home was measured. Mental he alth was represented by the psychiatric symptoms, depression level,and self -esteem. The level of violence perpetrated by the adolescents was also expl ored. Results of the multiple regression analysis show that adolescents who have been exposed to more violence, either as a victim or as a witness, re port more psychiatric symptoms, higher levels of depression, and more probl ems of elf-esteem. Being a witness of violence also contributes significant ly to the variance of violence committed by the adolescents. The implicatio ns of the findings to violence prevention are discussed in the conclusion.