The relationship of exposure to community violence with posttraumatic stress disorder and expression of anger in adolescents

The present study examined the effects of exposure to violence in the community on adolescents\u27 level of distress and expression of anger. Participants in the study were 75 adolescents, ages 13-17, consecutively admitted to the adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit at the Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, New York. Participants completed three instruments: the Screening Survey of Exposure to Community Violence (SSECV, Richters, 1990), the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI, Spielberger, 1988) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index--Child (CPTSDRI, Frederick, 1985). The major hypothesis tested was that adolescents who have been exposed to community violence develop varying levels of distress and varying levels of expression of anger that are differentially mediated by whether they were a victim or witness, previous history of child abuse, gender and ethnicity. Results demonstrated a relationship between exposure to community violence and symptoms of distress and expression of anger. There is a significant relationship between being a victim of violence and distress symptoms. A previous history of sexual abuse was significantly related to higher distress scores and expression of internalized anger