Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Influence of Internalizing Symptoms and Emotion Dysregulation on the Association Between Witnessed Community Violence and Aggression Among Urban Adolescents

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry & Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current cross-sectional study examined whether internalizing (i.e. anxiety and depressive) symptoms and/or emotion dysregulation moderated the association between witnessed community violence and aggressive behavior. Participants were 180 predominantly African American adolescents (62% girls; M age = 15.87 years, SD = 1.19 years) from a high school located in an urban community in the United States. Approximately 95% of adolescents reported having witnessed at least one violent act during their lifetimes, with many endorsing repeated exposure to severe acts of community violence. Results indicated that emotion dysregulation exacerbated the association between witnessed community violence and aggression. A quadratic effect of anxiety symptoms also moderated this association, such that witnessed community violence was linked to aggression at low and high, but not moderate, levels of anxiety symptoms. In contrast, a quadratic effect of depressive symptoms was uniquely related to aggression, regardless of witnessed community violence. Directions for future research and implications for practice are reviewed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Youth violence: a report of the surgeon general (2001) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington D.C

  2. Krug EG, Dahlberg LL, Mercy JA, Zwi AB, Lozano R (2002) World report on violence and health. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  3. Fowler PJ, Tompsett CJ, Braciszewski JM, Jacques-Tiura AJ, Baltes BB (2009) Community violence: a meta-analysis on the effect of exposure and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents. Dev Psychopathol 21:227–259

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Busby DR, Lambert SF, Ialongo NS (2013) Psychological symptoms linking exposure to community violence and academic functioning in African American adolescents. J Youth Adolesc 42:250–262

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Vermeiren R, Schwab-Stone M, Deboutte D, Leckman PE, Ruchkin V (2003) Violence exposure and substance use in adolescents: findings from three countries. Pediatrics 111:535–540

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lambert SF, Copeland-Linder N, Ialongo NS (2008) Longitudinal associations between community violence exposure and suicidality. J Adolesc Health 43:380–386

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Farver JAM, Xu Y, Eppe S, Fernandez A, Schwartz D (2005) Community violence, family conflict, and preschoolers’ socioemotional functioning. Dev Psychol 41:160–170

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Guerra NG, Huesmann LR, Spindler A (2003) Community violence exposure, social cognition, and aggression among urban elementary school children. Child Dev 74:1561–1576

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Schwartz D, Proctor LJ (2000) Community violence exposure and children’s social adjustment in the school peer group: the mediating roles of emotion regulation and social cognition. J Consult Clin Psychol 68:670–683

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bradshaw CP, Rodgers CRR, Ghandour LA, Garbarino J (2009) Social-cognitive mediators of the association between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior. Sch Psychol Q 24:199–210

    Google Scholar 

  11. McMahon SD, Felix ED, Halpert JA, Petropoulos LAN (2009) Community violence exposure and aggression among urban adolescents: testing a cognitive mediator model. J Commun Psychol 37:895–910

    Google Scholar 

  12. Uniform crime reports. Federal Bureau of Investigation; 2010–2014

  13. Farver JAM, Natera LX, Frosch DL (1999) Effects of community violence on inner-city preschoolers and their families. J Appl Dev Psychol 20(1):143–158

    Google Scholar 

  14. Shahinfar A, Fox NA, Leavitt LA (2000) Preschool children’s exposure to violence: relation of behavior problems to parent and child reports. Am J Orthopsychiatry 70:115–125

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Stein BD, Jaycox LH, Kataoka S, Rhodes HJ, Vestal KD (2003) Prevalence of child and adolescent exposure to community violence. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 6:247–264

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Gaylord-Harden NK, Bai GJ, Simic D (2017) Examining a dual-process model of desensitization and hypersensitization to community violence in African American male adolescents. J Trauma Stress 30(5):463–471

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Crick NR, Dodge KA (1994) A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychol Bull 115:74–101

    Google Scholar 

  18. Colder CR, Mott J, Levy S, Flay B (2000) The relation of perceived neighborhood danger to childhood aggression: a test of mediating mechanisms. Am J Commun Psychol 28:83–103

    Google Scholar 

  19. Shahinfar A, Kupersmidt JB, Matza LS (2001) The relation between exposure to violence and social information processing among incarcerated adolescents. J Abnorm Psychol 110(1):136–141

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Bubier JL, Drabick DAG (2009) Co-occurring anxiety and disruptive behavior disorders: the roles of anxious symptoms, reactive aggression, and shared risk processes. Clin Psychol Rev 29:658–669

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Granic I (2014) The role of anxiety in the development, maintenance, and treatment of childhood aggression. Dev Psychopathol 26:1515–1530

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Gray JA (1987) Perspectives on anxiety and impulsivity: a commentary. J Res Personal 21:493–509

    Google Scholar 

  23. Yang J, Zhang S, Lou Y et al (2018) The increased sex differences in susceptibility to emotional stimuli during adolescence: an event-related potential study. Front Hum Neurosci 11:660

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Loeber R, Keenan K (1994) Interaction between conduct disorder and its comorbid conditions: effects of age and gender. Clin Psychol Rev 14(6):497–523

    Google Scholar 

  25. Foley DL, Pickles A, Maes HM, Silberg JL, Eaves LJ (2004) Course and short-term outcomes of separation anxiety disorder in a community sample of twins. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43(9):1107–1114

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Cooley JL, Frazer AL, Fite PJ, Brown S, DiPierro M (2017) Anxiety symptoms as a moderator of the reciprocal links between forms of aggression and peer victimization in middle childhood. Aggress Behav 43(5):450–459

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Dutton DG, Karakanta C (2013) Depression as a risk marker for aggression: a critical review. Aggress Violent Behav 18:310–319

    Google Scholar 

  28. Knox M, King C, Hanna GL, Logan D, Ghaziuddin N (2000) Aggressive behavior in clinically depressed adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39:611–618

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Robinson WL, Paxton KC, Jonen LP (2011) Pathways to aggression and violence among African American adolescent males: the influence of normative beliefs, neighborhood, and depressive symptomatology. J Prev Interv Commun 39:132–148

    Google Scholar 

  30. Benarous X, Hassler C, Falissard B, Consoli A, Cohen D (2015) Do girls with depressive symptoms exhibit more physical aggression than boys? A cross sectional study in a national adolescent sample. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 9:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  31. Compas BE, Orosan PG, Grant KE (1993) Adolescent stress and coping: implications for psychopathology during adolescence. J Adolesc 16(3):331–349

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Gomez-Baya D, Mendoza R, Paino S, Sanchez A, Romero N (2017) Latent growth curve analysis of gender differences in response styles and depressive symptoms during mid-adolescence. Cogn Ther Res 41(2):289–303

    Google Scholar 

  33. Jose PE, Brown I (2008) When does the gender difference in rumination begin? Gender and age differences in the use of rumination by adolescents. J Youth Adolesc 37(2):180–192

    Google Scholar 

  34. Stringaris A, Maughan B, Copeland WS, Costello EJ, Angold A (2013) Irritable mood as a symptom of depression in youth: prevalence, developmental, and clinical correlates in the great smoky mountains study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 52(8):831–840

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Stringaris A, Zavos H, Leibenluft E, Maughan B, Eley TC (2012) Adolescent irritability: phenotypic associations and genetic links with depressed mood. Am J Psychiatry 169(1):47–54

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Kofler MJ, McCart MR, Zajac K, Ruggiero KJ, Saunders BE, Kilpatrick DG (2011) Depression and delinquency covariation in an accelerated longitudinal sample of adolescents. J Consult Clin Psychol 79:458–469

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Röll J, Koglin U, Petermann F (2012) Emotion regulation and childhood aggression: longitudinal associations. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43:909–923

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Cooley JL, Fite PJ (2016) Peer victimization and forms of aggression during middle childhood: the role of emotion regulation. J Abnorm Child Psychol 44(3):535–546

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Helmsen J, Koglin U, Petermann F (2012) Emotion regulation and aggressive behavior in preschoolers: the mediating role of social information processing. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43(1):87–101

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Roberton T, Daffern M, Bucks RS (2012) Emotion regulation and aggression. Aggress Violent Behav 17:72–82

    Google Scholar 

  41. Cole PM, Michel M, O’Donnell Teti L (1994) The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation: a clinical perspective. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 59:73–100

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Bushman BJ, Baumeister RF, Phillips CM (2001) Do people aggress to improve their mood? Catharsis beliefs, affect regulation opportunity, and aggressive responding. J Pers Soc Psychol 81:17–32

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Gardner FL, Moore ZE (2008) Understanding clinical anger and violence: the anger avoidance model. Behav Modif 32:897–912

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Bowie BH (2010) Understanding the gender differences in pathways to social deviancy: relational aggression and emotion regulation. Arch Psychiatr Nurs 24:27–37

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Herts KL, McLaughlin KA, Hatzenbuehler ML (2012) Emotion dysregulation as a mechanism linking stress exposure to adolescent aggressive behavior. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40:1111–1122

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. McLaughlin KA, Hatzenbuehler ML, Hilt LM (2009) Emotion dysregulation as a mechanism linking peer victimization to internalizing symptoms in adolescents. J Consult Clin Psychol 77:894–904

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Crockenberg SC, Leerkes EM, Jó PSB (2008) Predicting aggressive behavior in the third year from infant reactivity and regulation as moderated by maternal behavior. Dev Psychopathol 20:37–54

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Hill AL, Degnan KA, Calkins SD, Keane SP (2006) Profiles of externalizing behavior problems for boys and girls across preschool: the roles of emotion regulation and inattention. Dev Psychol 42:913–928

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Wong TKY, Konishi C, Zhao K (2018) Anger and anger regulation among adolescents: a consideration of sex and age differences. Can J Behav Sci 50(1):1–8

    Google Scholar 

  50. Chaplin TM, Aldao M (2013) Gender differences in emotion expression in children: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 139:735–765

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Stroud LR, Salovey P, Epel ES (2002) Sex differences in stress responses: social rejection versus achievement stress. Biol Psychiat 52(4):318–327

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Glover EM, Jovanovic T, Mercer KB et al (2012) Estrogen levels are associated with extinction deficits in women with posttraumatic stress disorder. Biol Psychiatry 72(1):19–24

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Blossom JB, Fite PJ, Frazer AL, Cooley JL, Evans SC (2016) Parental psychological control and aggression in youth: moderating effect of emotion dysregulation. J Appl Dev Psychol 44:12–20

    Google Scholar 

  54. Community Facts (2011) US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov

  55. March JS (1997) MASC: multidimensional anxiety scale for children. Multi-Health Systems Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  56. Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK (1996) Manual for the beck depression inventory-II. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio

    Google Scholar 

  57. Uslu RI, Kapci EG, Oncu B, Ugurlu M, Turkcapar H (2008) Psychometric properties and cut-off scores of the beck depression inventory-II in Turkish adolescents. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 15:225–233

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Gratz KL, Roemer L (2004) Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 26:41–54

    Google Scholar 

  59. Neumann A, van Lier PAC, Gratz KL, Koot HM (2010) Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation difficulties in adolescents using the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Assessment 17:138–149

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. De Los Reyes A, Prinstein MJ (2004) Applying depression-distortion hypotheses to the assessment of peer victimization in adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 33:325–335

    Google Scholar 

  61. Prinstein MJ, Boergers J, Vernberg EM (2001) Overt and relational aggression in adolescents: social–psychological adjustment of aggressors and victims. J Clin Child Psychol 30:479–491

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. SAS® University Edition. 2014

  63. Muthén LK, Muthén BO (1998) Mplus user’s guide, 7th edn. Muthén & Muthén, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  64. Aiken L, West SG (1991) Multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions. Sage, Newbury Park

    Google Scholar 

  65. Kline RB (2011) Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, 3rd edn. Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  66. Bauer DJ, Curran PJ (2005) Probing interactions in fixed and multilevel regression: inferential and graphical techniques. Multivar Behav Res 40:373–400

    Google Scholar 

  67. Qouta S, Punamäki R-L, Miller T, El-Sarraj E (2008) Does war beget child aggression? Military violence, gender, age and aggressive behavior in two Palestinian samples. Aggress Behav 34:231–244

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Ozer EJ, Lavi I, Douglas D, Wolf JP (2017) Protective factors for youth exposed to violence in their communities: a review of family, school, and community moderators. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 46:353–378

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Scarpa A, Haden SC (2006) Community violence victimization and aggressive behavior: the moderating effects of coping and social support. Aggress Behav 32:502–515

    Google Scholar 

  70. Buka SL, Stichick TL, Birdthistle I, Earls FJ (2001) Youth exposure to violence: prevalence, risks, and consequences. Am J Orthopsychiatry 71:298–310

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Cooley-Strickland M, Quille TJ, Griffin RS, Stuart EA, Bradshaw CP, Furr-Holden D (2009) Community violence and youth: affect, behavior, substance use, and academics. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 12:127–156

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Zinzow HM, Ruggiero KJ, Resnick H et al (2009) Prevalence and mental health correlates of witnessed parental and community violence in a national sample of adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 50(4):441–450

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Berman SL, Kurtines WM, Silverman WK, Serafini LT (1996) The impact of exposure to crime and violence on urban youth. Am J Orthopsychiatry 66(3):329–336

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  74. Dempsey M, Overstreet S, Moely B (2000) “Approach” and “avoidance” coping and PTSD symptoms in inner-city youth. Curr Psychol 19(1):28–45

    Google Scholar 

  75. Farrell AD, Bruce SE (1997) Impact of exposure to community violence on violent behavior and emotional distress among urban adolescents. J Clin Child Psychol 26(1):2–14

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  76. Horowitz K, Weine S, Jekel J (1995) PTSD symptoms in urban adolescent girls: compounded community trauma. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 34(10):1353–1361

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  77. Jenkins EJ (1993) Community violence and children on Chicago’s southside. Psychiatry 56(1):46–54

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  78. Jenkins EJ, Bell CC (1994) Violence among inner city high school students and post-traumatic stress disorder. In: Friedman S (ed) Anxiety disorders in African Americans. Springer, New York, pp 76–88

    Google Scholar 

  79. Overstreet S, Braun S (2000) Exposure to community violence and post-traumatic stress symptoms: mediating factors. Am J Orthopsychiatry 70(2):263–271

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Fitzpatrick KM (1997) Aggression and environmental risk among low-income African-American youth. J Adolesc Health 21(3):172–178

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  81. Boyd RC, Cooley MR, Lambert SF, Ialongo NS (2003) First-grade child risk behaviors for community violence exposure in middle school. J Commun Psychol 31(3):297–314

    Google Scholar 

  82. Lambert SF, Ialongo NS, Boyd RC, Cooley MR (2005) Risk factors for community violence exposure in adolescence. Am J Commun Psychol 36(1–2):29–48

    Google Scholar 

  83. Overstreet S (2000) Exposure to community violence: defining the problem and understanding the consequences. J Child Fam Stud 9:7–25

    Google Scholar 

  84. Achenbach TM, McConaughy SH, Howell CT (1987) Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychol Bull 101:213–232

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  85. Vitaro F, Brendgen M, Tremblay RE (2002) Reactively and proactively aggressive children: antecedent and subsequent characteristics. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 43:495–506

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  86. Lochman JE, Wells KC (2004) The coping power program for preadolescent aggressive boys and their parents: outcome effects at the 1-year follow-up. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:571–578

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  87. Eron L, Huesmann R, Spindler A, Guerra N, Henry D, Tolan P (2002) A cognitive-ecological approach to preventing aggression in urban settings: initial outcomes for high-risk children. J Consult Clin Psychol 70:179–194

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Emory Office of University-Community Partnerships and by the Brock Family Foundation. John Cooley was supported in part by a training fellowship from NIMH, T32 MH015442. The authors would like to thank all students, teachers, and school administrators who gave their time to participate in this study. We would also like to thank Dr. Margaret Anton for her thoughtful feedback on the manuscript. Finally, we are grateful to the many individuals involved with the Child and Adolescent Mood Program at the Emory University School of Medicine who assisted with this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Developmental Psychobiology Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 1300 E. 17th Place, F546, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    John L. Cooley

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Lorie A. Ritschel

  3. Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Andrew L. Frazer

  4. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine/Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA

    Jennifer B. Blossom

Authors
  1. John L. Cooley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lorie A. Ritschel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew L. Frazer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jennifer B. Blossom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to John L. Cooley, Lorie A. Ritschel, Andrew L. Frazer or Jennifer B. Blossom.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cooley, J.L., Ritschel, L.A., Frazer, A.L. et al. The Influence of Internalizing Symptoms and Emotion Dysregulation on the Association Between Witnessed Community Violence and Aggression Among Urban Adolescents. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 50, 883–893 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00890-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00890-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation