Studies have identified a robust association between children's exposure to violence and their mental health. Yet, most of this research has been based on self-reported exposure and self-reported mental health. In this study, we used a new, map-based method via police data for measuring children's exposure to violent crime and compared it to child self-reports and parent reports of exposure. Results suggest that child self-reports of violence exposure may not be valid except for exposure to murder, but police and parent reports of violent crime can reveal interesting relations between violence and mental health. Children showed higher levels of internalizing problems in the absence of police-reported murder and parent-reported robbery. Discussion emphasizes implications for measurement as well as theory building.

We surveyed male ex-offenders (N = 100) about their experiences during and prior to incarceration to assess the role of these factors in psychosocial adjustment postrelease. Participants completed measures of preincarceration mental health problems and severe victimization and feelings of safety during incarceration; they also self-reported emotional distress, antisocial behavior, and posttraumatic stress (PTS). Moderator analyses of PTS outcomes revealed two key interactions between preincarceration mental health problems and severe victimization during incarceration as well as preincarceration mental health problems by feelings of safety during incarceration. In those without preincarceration mental health problems, victimization and PTS were significantly positively related; this was not the case for those with preexisting mental problems. Furthermore, the positive relation between feeling unsafe and PTS was stronger among those with preexisting mental problems. Findings are discussed with respect to implications for reentry services.

In this study, formerly incarcerated men (N = 123) were assessed for their experiences with violence in the community as well as their current behavioral and mental health status (antisocial behavior and emotional distress). Participants also completed measures of two constructs theorized to moderate relations between exposure to violence and outcomes: cognitive beliefs supporting aggressive responding and negative emotional reactivity to witnessed violence. Data on key social-demographic background factors affecting outcomes were also collected. Analyses showed that, after controlling the effects of background factors, relationships between experiences with violence in the community and behavioral/mental health were moderated by cognitive beliefs and emotional reactivity. At high levels of support for aggressive responding, significant positive links were observed between exposure to violence and antisocial behavior as well as emotional distress. At high levels of negative reactivity to violence, a significant positive link was observed between exposure to violence and emotional distress (but not antisocial behavior). Findings are discussed with respect to research and theory on the effects of exposure to violence in high-risk adult populations.

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