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Impact of Exposure to Community Violence on Anxiety: A Longitudinal Study of Family Social Support as a Protective Factor for Urban Children

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Abstract

In a longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between exposure to community violence and anxiety, and the extent to which family social support moderated this relationship within a predominantly African American sample of 385 children in an urban public school system. Children reported notably lower anxiety levels compared to normative data for African American children. A high percentage reported witnessing a variety of violent acts. Cross-sectional results indicated that among girls exposure to violence was significantly correlated with total, physiological, and concentration anxiety. Among boys violence exposure was not associated with anxiety. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that after controlling for gender, exposure to violence at Time 1 did not significantly predict changes in anxiety. A significant interaction was found for gender and exposure to violence on concentration anxiety; girls who reported higher initial violence exposure reported greater increases in subsequent concentration anxiety than boys. Whereas findings from our study did not support a moderating relationship of family social support on children's exposure to violence and anxiety, a strong negative relationship was found between anxiety and family support. Among children with initially low worry anxiety, those with low family social support showed greater increases in subsequent worry anxiety.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond Violence Prevention Project, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

    Kamila S. White (Project Coordinator)

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

    Steven E. Bruce (Graduate Research Assistant)

  3. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

    Albert D. Farrell (Professor)

  4. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

    Wendy Kliewer (Assistant Professor)

Authors
  1. Kamila S. White
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  2. Steven E. Bruce
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  3. Albert D. Farrell
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  4. Wendy Kliewer
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Correspondence to Albert D. Farrell.

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White, K.S., Bruce, S.E., Farrell, A.D. et al. Impact of Exposure to Community Violence on Anxiety: A Longitudinal Study of Family Social Support as a Protective Factor for Urban Children. Journal of Child and Family Studies 7, 187–203 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022943216319

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022943216319

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