Individual measurement of exposure to everyday violence among elementary schoolchildren across various settings

One hundred and thirty-four second- and fourth-grade students from two scho ol in Israel were measured individually using a Hebrew adaptation of the Vi olence Exposure Scale - Revised (VEX-R), a self-report scale measuring chil dren's exposure to everyday violence. Children reported exposure as a funct ion of situation (witness or victim) and setting (home, school, or neighbor hood). They also reported on their own distress symptoms. The children's mo thers also completed the VEX-R, indicating how they expected their child wo uld report, and the Child Behavior Checklist. Children reported more exposu re to violence at school compared to either the home or neighborhood, and m ore as witnesses than victims. Most of the violence reported was mild (e.g. , pushing, chasing), while severe violence (e.g., shooting, stabbing) was r are in all settings. Children who reported themselves as frequent victims o f violence were rated by their mothers as exhibiting more behavior problems than those reporting less victimization. The results support the validity of the VEX-R as a measure of exposure to violence for young children. (C) 2 001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.