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First‐grade child risk behaviors for community violence exposure in middle school
Author(s) -
Boyd Rhonda C.,
Cooley Michele R.,
Lambert Sharon F.,
Ialongo Nicholas S.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.10047
Subject(s) - aggression , psychological intervention , psychology , anxiety , logistic regression , clinical psychology , poison control , school violence , suicide prevention , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , environmental health
Abstract This study examined behavioral indicators (measured by multiple informants) of young urban children's exposure to community violence during middle school. The community‐based school sample included 549 students (53% male; 86.8% African American, 13.2% Euro American). First‐grade aggressive behavior and anxiety symptoms were examined as predictors of later victimization and witnessing of community violence. Logistic regression analyses indicated that girls' first‐grade aggression significantly predicted witnessing violence in middle school, regardless of informant. Parent‐reported child aggression significantly predicted boys' later victimization. Teacher‐ and parent‐reported child aggression was associated with witnessing more community violence among boys with low self‐reported anxiety. Anxiety attenuated the relationship between aggression and witnessing community violence during adolescence for boys. The importance of the identifying early predictors of later community violence exposure in designing preventive interventions is discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 297–314, 2003.