Severity level and type of exposure to community violence were examined to determine their effect on emotional distress and problem behaviors among 234 low-income urban African American early adolescents. There were 4 violence exposure scales developed from a principal component analysis of the Richters and Martinez (1993) exposure to violence scale: moderate and severe witnessing and moderate and severe victimization. Regression analyses indicated that moderate victimization was the most consistent predictor of emotional distress and behavioral problems, whereas moderate witnessing did not relate to any of the dependent variables. Severe victimization predicted depression and delinquency, whereas severe witnessing predicted posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and delinquency. Witnessing and victimization scales based on severity of exposure better represented the experience than combining all data into a single exposure or simply witnessing and victimization scales.

This study examined protective and risky companionship and locations for exposure to community violence among African American young adolescents living in high crime, urban areas. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM), an in vivo data collection method, was employed to gather information from 233 students (62% female) over 3 years, beginning in the 6th grade. Questionnaire variables of exposure to community violence were regressed onto ESM companionship and location variables, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, separately for boys and girls. At different points, time spent with parents, in school, and outside in private space was associated with less exposure to violence for boys and girls, while time spent with girls was protective for boys. In addition, time spent outside in public and with older peers was associated with increased risk for boys and girls. These findings are discussed in relation to previous and potential future research, and to strategies to prevent exposure to community violence.

Parental monitoring and warmth have traditionally been studied in the context of White, middle-class families. This article explores optimal levels of these parenting behaviors in preventing adolescent psychopathology in impoverished, urban high-crime areas while accounting for child perceptions of neighborhood danger. In this study, data were collected longitudinally at 2 time points 1 year apart from a sample of 254 African American young adolescents (T1: M age = 12.6 years, 41% male) and their parents. Parental monitoring and warmth, child perception of neighborhood danger, and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors were measured using questionnaires. Child internalizing behaviors were also measured using a time sampling technique capturing in vivo accounts of daily distress. Findings indicated associations between parental monitoring and children's externalizing behaviors along with linear and quadratic associations between parental monitoring and internalizing behaviors. Monitoring and warmth were differentially related to symptoms depending on neighborhood danger level. When children perceived less danger, more monitoring related to less externalizing. When children perceived more danger, more warmth related to less internalizing. In addition, adolescents' perceptions of neighborhood danger emerged as equally strong as monitoring and warmth in predicting symptoms. This study underscores the influence of carefully considering parenting approaches and which techniques optimally prevent adolescents' externalizing, as well as prevent internalizing difficulties. It also highlights how context affects mental health, specifically how perceptions of danger negatively influence adolescents' psychopathology, emphasizing the importance of initiatives to reduce violence in communities.

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