Violence exposure among school-age children in foster care: relationship to distress symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the amount and nature of violence exposure and examine the relationship between violence exposure and distress symptoms among children in foster care. METHOD: Violence exposure and distress symptoms were evaluated in interviews, conducted between July 1996 and March 1998, of 300 children from Los Angeles County living in out-of-home placement. RESULTS: Interviews were successfully completed in 91% of eligible children. The majority of children (85%) reported having been a witness to violence, and 51% had been a victim of violence during their lifetime. Of these youths, 54% and 41%, respectively, reported having been exposed to such violence in the past 6 months. Girls, victims of assaultive violence and weapon related violence, and those reporting exposure to mild violence were more likely (p < .05) to have higher levels of distress symptoms than those without such characteristics, after age was controlled for. CONCLUSIONS: Children in foster care continue to have high levels of violence exposure, even after removal from their biological parents' home. The relationship between violence exposure and distress symptoms underscores the need for clinicians to inquire about multiple forms of violence exposure among children living in out-of-home placement.

The relation between exposure to violence and social information processing among incarcerated adolescents.

Combining evidence from social learning theory with reports of the association between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior development, the authors examined the link between specific characteristics of violence exposure and social information-processing mechanisms (N. R. Crick & K. A. Dodge, 1994; K. A. Dodge, 1980, 1986) in a sample of highly aggressive, incarcerated adolescent boys (N = 110). Results demonstrated that victimization by severe violence was significantly related to approval of aggression as a social response, problems with the interpretation of social cues, and maladaptive social goals. Witnessing severe violence, in contrast, was related to perceived positive outcomes for the use of aggression. These data suggest the importance of examining the severity and modality of exposure to community violence for understanding patterns of social-cognitive functioning among adolescents exposed to violence.

Preschool children's exposure to violence: relation of behavior problems to parent and child reports.

A group of 155 parents and their preschool children attending Head Start reported on the children's exposure to community violence, level of distress symptoms, and behavioral problems. The behavioral correlates of exposure were found to differ according to exposure modality: internalizing problems were more likely in children who witnessed violence, and externalizing problems in those victimized by violence. Issues regarding self-reports by preschool children are highlighted, and clinical and research implications discussed.