Children and adolescents exposed to community violence: A mental health perspective for school psychologists

Exposure to community violence has become a primary concern for parents, sc hool personnel, students, and the public, in general. With a majority of ch ildren and adolescents being exposed to community violence, the need to und erstand the relationship between violence exposure and youth mental health as well as the protective and vulnerability factors involved is of great im portance. This article provides school psychologists with important informa tion regarding child and adolescent mental health problems that have been s hown to be related to community violence exposure. In addition, this articl e provides an examination of the protective and vulnerability factors that may buffer or exacerbate the detrimental effects of exposure to community v iolence. Implications for school psychologists who are working with youth e xposed to community violence or at-risk populations are discussed.