Does Community Violence Exposure Predict Trauma Symptoms in a Sample of Maltreated Youth in Foster Care?

Previous studies find that childhood exposure to family and community violence is associated with trauma symptoms. Few studies, however, have explored whether community violence exposure (CVE) predicts trauma symptoms after controlling for the effects associated with family violence exposure (FVE). In the current study, CVE and FVE were examined in a sample of 179 youth with a recent history of maltreatment. CVE was associated with trauma symptoms after controlling for FVE, but FVE was not associated with trauma symptoms after controlling for CVE. In addition, negative coping strategies (e.g., self-harm, interpersonal aggression) partially mediated the association between CVE and trauma symptoms. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions aimed at addressing the needs of children exposed to violence. In the United States, family violence exposure (FVE) and community violence exposure (CVE) among children is a pervasive and serious problem. Recent estimates indicate that 30 % of youth in the United States have been exposed to at least one act of domestic violence in the previous year (McDonald, Jouriles, Ramisetty-Mikler, Caetano, & Green, 2006), with a large majority of these children (between 75 % and 95%) also experiencing physical abuse (McCloskey, 2001; Smith-Slep & O’Leary, 2005). Similarly, a high percentage of youth are subjected to CVE. Studies involving youth from urban settings find that between 75 % and 90 % of adolescents have witnessed at least one act of violence in their neighborhood