Exposure to Violence, Social Cognitive Processing, and Sleep Problems in Urban Adolescents

Abstract

Exposure to violence is associated with elevated levels of sleep problems in adolescence, which contributes to poor mental and physical health and impaired academic performance. However, reasons underlying the associations between exposure to violence and sleep difficulty have not been examined. This study tested a social cognitive processing path model linking experiences of witnessing and directly experiencing community violence and sleep problems. Participants were 362 early adolescents (M age = 12.45 yrs, SD = 0.59; Range 11 to 14 yrs; 48.9% male; 51% Latino/a; 34% black) from urban communities enrolled in a middle-school-based intervention study on the east coast of the United States that was designed to reduce the negative effects of exposure to violence. All youth in the current study reported witnessing or directly experiencing community violence. Adolescents completed four school-based assessments over an 18-month period, reporting on their exposure to community violence, sleep problems, intrusive thoughts about and social constraints in talking about violence, and life events. A path model that included both victimization and witnessing violence revealed that wave 1 witnessing violence, but not victimization, was associated with elevated social constraints in talking about violence at wave 2, which was associated with elevated intrusive thoughts at wave 3, which was associated with poor sleep quality at wave 4. Prior levels of all constructs were controlled in the analysis, in addition to life events, single parent household status, children’s age and sex, intervention condition, and school. Youth exposed to violence may benefit from help in processing their experiences, thus reducing social constraints in talking about their experiences and associated intrusive thoughts. This is turn may improve sleep outcomes.

Advancing a Biopsychosocial and Contextual Model of Sleep in Adolescence: A Review and Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Studies by Kliewer and Lepore (2015) and Umlauf et al (2015) draw our attention to ways in which exposure to violence can impact sleep functioning. Among 362 young adolescents (ages 11-14 years) who witnessed or experienced community violence, both victimization and witnessing violence were longitudinally correlated with sleep problems (Kliewer and Lepore 2015).…”

“…Among 362 young adolescents (ages 11-14 years) who witnessed or experienced community violence, both victimization and witnessing violence were longitudinally correlated with sleep problems (Kliewer and Lepore 2015). However, path modeling conducted using four measurement points over an 18-month period indicated that witnessing violence (but not victimization) reported at the first time-point was associated with more social constraints in talking about violence at the second time-point which was associated at the third time-point with having more intrusive thoughts related to the violence experienced.…”

The Role of Sleep in the Relationship Between Victimization and Externalizing Problems in Adolescents

“…Specifically, findings suggest that adolescents exposed to higher levels of victimization report more sleep problems (e.g., less time spent sleeping, tiredness) than adolescents who are not victimized (Kliewer and Lepore 2014; Lepore and Kliewer 2013). Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis by van Geel et al (2016) revealed a moderate, positive association between victimization and sleep problems in both children and adolescents.…”

“…The model hypothesizes that adolescents who are victimized may develop intrusive thoughts in response to their experience, which in turn may lead to increased levels of depressive and anxious symptoms. More recently, Kliewer and Lepore (2014) found that these intrusive thoughts also could be linked to increases in adolescent-reported sleep problems. Thus, it is likely that victimization also is an important contributing factor to the development of adolescent sleep problems.…”

Knocking on the door : police decision points in executing search warrants.

“…For instance, detectives should not be allowed to execute search warrants when children are present on the property. Search warrant raids are a violent process, and there is a large body of research that notes detrimental impact of children who witness violent acts (Dinizulu, Grant, & McIntosh, 2014;Kaynak, Lepore, & Kliewer, 2011;Kliewer & Lepore, 2015;Singh & Kenney, 2013). Further, the presence of children restricts the use of flash-bang grenades and breaking windows, two tactics detectives argue are important.…”