The influence of exposure to violence on adolescents’ physical aggression: The protective influence of peers

Abstract

Introduction: This study examined the degree to which peers can serve as a protective factor to mitigate the negative effects of exposure to violence (i.e., victimization, witnessing violence) on adolescents' physical aggression. Four speciic dimensions of peer inluence were examinedfriends' support for nonviolence, friends' support for ighting, peer pressure for ighting, and friends' delinquent behavior. Methods: Analyses were conducted on four waves of data collected every 3 months (i.e., fall, winter, spring, summer) from a predominantly African-American (78%) sample of 2575 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders attending three public middle schools in the United States. The sample was 52% female, with a mean age of 12.3 years (SD = 1.00). Results: Findings for relations with victimization differed by sex. For boys, low levels of friends' delinquent behavior attenuated the relation between victimization and changes in physical aggression across all three waves. The protective effect of low levels of peer pressure for ighting was only evident in the winter for boys, whereas the protective effect of friends' support for nonviolence was only evident in the summer. For girls, high levels of friends' support for nonviolence attenuated the relation between victimization in the winter and changes in physical aggression in the spring. In contrast, none of the peer factors moderated the relation between witnessing violence and physical aggression. Conclusions: Findings suggest that prevention and interventions that increase positive peer inluences and decrease negative peer inluences may beneit adolescents by reducing risks associated with victimization.Adolescents in underserved communities experience high rates of violence exposure (Richards et al., 2015), which has been associated with a variety of negative outcomes (see review by Fowler et al., 2009). Exposure can occur directly through experiencing victimization or indirectly by witnessing violence (Buka et al., 2001). This is an important distinction based on indings indicating that the strength of relations between violence exposure and adjustment dificulties varies based on the form of exposure. This was highlighted in a meta-analysis by Fowler et al. (2009) that found that although all forms of violence exposure were positively associated with externalizing behavior (e.g., aggressive and delinquent behavior), being a victim of community violence was a stronger predictor than being a witness or hearing about violence. The high prevalence of violence exposure and its adverse consequences highlight the need for research to identify protective factors that may reduce negative consequences experienced by adolescents in communities that place them at increased risk for violence exposure. The purpose of this study was to examine peers as a potential

Relations between youths' community violence exposure and their physical aggression: The protective role of adults

“…The role of social-ecological and individual protective factors may differ across contexts (Ungar, 2015). One study found that peer variables, particularly low levels of friends' delinquent behavior and peer pressure for fighting and high levels of friends' support for nonviolence, attenuated the relation between victimization and subsequent physical aggression (Coleman & Farrell, 2021). However, findings differed by gender and season of year, highlighting the importance of context, time, and gender when identifying factors that might promote resilience in youth exposed to violence.…”

“…This manuscript was based on data from an 8-year project that collected longitudinal data within each school year from 10 cohorts of students attending three urban middle schools. Several prior manuscripts based on these data have examined bidirectional relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression (Farrell, Thompson, Curran, & Sullivan, 2020), peer factors as mediators (Farrell, Pittman, O'Connor, & Sullivan, 2022), and moderators (Coleman & Farrell, 2021) of relations between violence exposure and physical aggression, and beliefs as mediators of relations between violence exposure and physical aggression (Farrell, Pittman, Bettencourt, et al, 2022).…”

The Association between Participation in Fights and Bullying and the Perception of School, Teachers, and Peers among School-Age Children in Serbia

“…Belonging to gangs might provide strength to those students who need it, and school can be a place to show off their superiority by engaging in physical fights and bullying “opponents”. The risk of bullying and fights could be lowered by preventive measures and actions that favor positive peer influence and peer support during adolescence [ 15 , 16 ] and in school settings in particular [ 14 , 17 ]. Differences in the prevalence of bullying and its types along with better understanding of such phenomena in school-age children can have an impact on various authorities, including schools, parents or legal guardians, and health care workers, to propose and create preventive measures and interventions that would have a positive response in reducing unfavorable behavioral patterns.…”

My Exposure to Violence: tradução e adaptação transcultural para o português brasileiro

“…Exposure to community violence has been related to a range of negative outcomes among adolescents, such as mental health problems 6 , depression 7 , anxiety 8 , post-traumatic stress disorder 9 , aggression 10 and delinquency 11 . Studies using neuroimaging have shown an association between ECV and reduced gray matter volume and lower IQ 12 , and ECV in early adolescence as a predictor of lower hippocampal and amygdala volume in late adolescence, which may imply impairments in learning, memory, and emotion processing 13 .…”

“…A exposição à violência comunitária tem sido relacionada a uma gama de desfechos negativos entre os adolescentes, como problemas de saúde mental 6 , depressão 7 , ansiedade 8 , transtorno de estresse pós-traumático 9 , agressão 10 e delinquência 11 . Estudos utilizando neuroimagem mostraram associação entre EVC e redução de volume da substância cinzenta e menor QI 12 e EVC no início da adolescência como fator preditor de menor volume do hipocampo e da amígdala ao final da adolescência, o que pode implicar em prejuízos na aprendizagem, memória e no processamento de emoções 13 .…”