Understanding the Nature and Consequences of Children’s Exposure to Violence: Research Perspectives

Abstract

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a long history of supporting research to enhance the scientific understanding of and effective interventions for a range of problems associated with children's exposure to violence. Recently, funded research has improved our understanding of the nature and consequences of children's exposure to violence. This article describes an NIH initiative for research on children's exposure to violence, examples of projects supported by the initiative, and emerging research topics for this important scientific area.

The longitudinal relations between dimensions of community violence exposure and developmental outcomes among adolescent ethnic minority males.

“…Building on research conducted in the area of child maltreatment (e.g., Manly et al, 2001), and responding to recommendations in the field to conceptualize community violence exposure as multi-dimensional (Fowler et al, 2009; Kennedy & Ceballo, 2014; Price & Maholmes, 2009), this study assesses the longitudinal relations between dimensions of community violence exposure (type – hearing about violence, witnessed violence, victimization – and relationship to perpetrator) and three key areas of adolescent functioning: depression, aggression, and attention problems. In line with the majority of studies examining the influence of dimensions of exposure in both child maltreatment and violence exposure, this study will first examine the relation between dimensions and outcomes concurrently in a cross-sectional analysis.…”

Who, What, When, and Where? Toward a Dimensional Conceptualization of Community Violence Exposure

“…Notably, the National Institutes of Health has cited progress in defining and measuring CVE as a critical goal for the study of youth's exposure to violence (Price & Maholmes, 2009); we offer the following recommendations as initial steps contributing to this important goal.…”

Predictors of Study Retention From a Multisite Study of Interventions for Children and Families Exposed to Violence

“…Over the past several decades, understanding of the prevalence and harmful consequences of children's exposure to violence has grown (English, ; Price & Maholmes, ; Osofsky, ). In 2010, local child protective service agencies nationwide reported that 695,000 children were victims of maltreatment including abuse and neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ).…”