Exposure to violence and neighborhood affiliation among inner-city youth

Examined the prediction of exposure to violence by neighborhood affiliation in a sample of 167 inner-city adolescents (107 girls, 60 boys) age 14 to 1 9 years. Measures of exposure to violence, emotional and behavioral problem s, and demographic information as well as a new neighborhood affiliation me asure developed specifically for adolescents were administered. Adolescents reported fairly high rates of exposure to violence, supporting other recen t research. Boys reported experiencing and witnessing significantly more vi olence than girls. In multiple regression analyses, higher neighborhood aff iliation predicted greater exposure to violence at a trend level (p = .06), even when age, sex, length of residence in one's neighborhood, and concurr ent emotional and behavioral problems were controlled. These findings sugge st that greater affiliation or attachment to one's neighborhood may be an i mportant risk factor for inner-city youth that should be investigated in la rger samples.