Aggressive behavior in response to violence exposure: is it adaptive for middle‐school children?

Abstract

The role of aggression in adaptation to family and community violence was examined in a sample of 667 inner-city schoolchildren studied annually over three years in middle school. Regression analyses indicated that the association between Year 1 exposure to family and community violence and Year 2 aggression was mediated by aggression occurring contemporaneously with Year 1 exposure. Cognitive justification of aggression and friends' delinquency made small independent contributions to prediction of Year 2 aggression, delinquency, and externalizing behaviors. Year 2 aggression mediated the association between Year 1 community violence victimization and Year 3 negative adaptation (internalizing problems, anxiety, and depression). Year 2 aggression also mediated the negative association between Year 1 witnessing community violence and Year 3 positive adaptation (self-esteem). Cognitive justification of aggression and friends' delinquency made independent

Neighborhood Environment and Internalizing Problems in African American Children

“…We suspect boys in hazardous environments develop coping strategies over time that include increased externalizing behaviors like aggression and violence. This is supported in other published research (McGee et al 2001; Salzinger et al 2008). Conversely, girl's adaptational processes lead to more internalizing symptoms including feelings of hopelessness and depression and as they age will surpass the boys in rates of depression and other internalizing problems (McGee et al 1992, 2001).…”

Youth violence as adaptation? Introduction to the special issue

“…In Anderson's (1999) research, for instance, it is suggested that maintaining a violent identity decreases the probability of victimization, preserves one's reputation within the community, and perhaps one's self-esteem and sense of control within a dangerous environment. Basing their study within Anderson's theoretical framework, Salzinger, Rosario, Feldman, andNg-Mak (this issue, pp. 1008-1025) examine the consequences of exposure to violence and one's own engagement in violent behavior on a variety of measures, which they conceptualize as positive adaptations (e.g., self-esteem and perceived community efficacy) and negative adaptations (e.g., anxiety and depression).…”

Overcoming exposure to complex stressors: An examination of protective coping mechanisms for low-income urban African American youth

“…In terms of measures, as the Response to Stress Questionnaire was designed mainly as a means of studying the coping response, the checklist used to measure stressors may not be as comprehensive as other measures that obtain precise counts. Additionally, the self-report version of the BASC does not include a measure of externalizing problems, which have been previously found to be commonly associated with exposure to severe and chronic stressors, especially exposure to community violence (Cassidy and Stevenson, 2005;Cooley-Strickland et al, 2011;Salzinger et al, 2008;Sanchez, Lambert, & Cooley-Strickland, 2013). Another limitation is that the sample size was insufficient for more sophisticated analyses, such as structural equation modeling.…”

“…Exposure to community violence, whether it be direct victimization or witnessing or even hearing about a violent event, has serious implications for the health and development of African American youth (Elsaesser, Gorman-Smith, Henry, & Schoeney, 2017). Youth may display more externalizing behaviors in response to community violence in an effort to cope or protect themselves from being victimized, but acting aggressively may rather put them at a heightened risk of violence exposure (Cassidy and Stevenson, 2005;Cooley-Strickland et al, 2011;Salzinger et al, 2008;Sanchez, Lambert, & Cooley-Strickland, 2013). Youth exposed to community violence may be more likely to perpetrate violence as well (Gorman-Smith, Henry, & Tolan, 2004).…”