Recent research consistently reports that persistent poverty has more detrimental effects on IQ, school achievement, and socioemotional functioning than transitory poverty, with children experiencing both types of poverty generally doing less well than never-poor children. Higher rates of perinatal complications, reduced access to resources that buffer the negative effects of perinatal complications, increased exposure to lead, and less home-based cognitive stimulation partly account for diminished cognitive functioning in poor children. These factors, along with lower teacher expectancies and poorer academic-readiness skills, also appear to contribute to lower levels of school achievement among poor children. The link between socioeconomic disadvantage and children's socioemotional functioning appears to be mediated partly by harsh, inconsistent parenting and elevated exposure to acute and chronic stressors. The implications of research findings for practice and policy are considered.

Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development

Meta-analyses of studies yielding sex-specific risk of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicated that female participants were more likely than male participants to meet criteria for PTSD, although they were less likely to experience PTEs. Female participants were more likely than male participants to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse, but less likely to experience accidents, nonsexual assaults, witnessing death or injury, disaster or fire, and combat or war. Among victims of specific PTEs (excluding sexual assault or abuse), female participants exhibited greater PTSD. Thus, sex differences in risk of exposure to particular types of PTE can only partially account for the differential PTSD risk in male and female participants.

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Sex differences in trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder: a quantitative review of 25 years of research.

This review examines theoretical and empirical literature on children's reactions to three types of violence--child maltreatment, community violence, and interparental violence. In addition to describing internalizing and externalizing problems associated with exposure to violence, this review identifies ways that violence can disrupt typical developmental trajectories through psychobiological effects, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cognitive consequences, and peer problems. Methodological challenges in this literature include high rates of co-occurrence among types of violence exposure, co-occurrence of violence with other serious life adversities, heterogeneity in the frequency, severity, age of onset, and chronicity of exposure, and difficulties in making causal inferences. A developmental psychopathology perspective focuses attention on how violence may have different effects at different ages and may compromise children's abilities to face normal developmental challenges. Emphasis is placed on the variability of children's reactions to violence, on outcomes that go beyond diagnosable disorders, and on variables that mediate and moderate children's reactions to violence.

The effects of family and community violence on children.

A national household probability sample of 4,023 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years was interviewed by telephone about substance use, victimization experiences, familial substance use, and posttraumatic reactions to identify risk factors for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--(4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) defined substance abuse/dependence. Age and ethnicity data were available for 3,907 participants. Major findings were (a) adolescents who had been physically assaulted, who had been sexually assaulted, who had witnessed violence, or who had family members with alcohol or drug use problems had increased risk for current substance abuse/dependence; (b) posttraumatic stress disorder independently increased risk of marijuana and hard drug abuse/dependence; and (c) when effects of other variables were controlled, African Americans, but not Hispanics or Native Americans, were at approximately 1/3 the risk of substance abuse/dependence as Caucasians.

Risk factors for adolescent substance abuse and dependence: data from a national sample

Social service professionals are more frequently identifying children who witness adult domestic violence as victims of that abuse. This article expands common definitions of how children witness adult domestic violence. A total of 31 research articles that met established quality criteria were included in this review. A variety of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive-functioning problems among children were found to be associated with exposure to domestic violence. Factors that appear to moderate the impact of witnessing violence—such as whether the child was also abused, child gender and age, and the time since last exposure to violence—were identified. Concerns about research methodology used in this area of research and the application of this knowledge also are raised.

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Children's Witnessing of Adult Domestic Violence

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between chronic exposure to community violence and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a nonrandom sample (N = 221) of low-income African-American youth between 7 and 18 years old. Results showed males were more likely than females to be victims of and witnesses to violent acts; there were no other significant sociodemographic differences in the degree of exposure to violence. PTSD symptom reporting was moderately high for this sample of youth; 54 youth (27.1%) met all three of the diagnostic criteria considered. Regression analyses revealed that being victimized and witnessing violence were significantly related to the reporting of PTSD symptoms. These symptoms were more extreme among victimized females and victimized youth who had no primary males living with them in the household (i.e., fathers and/or brothers). Exposure to violence among youth is clearly significant to their reporting of PTSD symptomatology, yet the clinical implications of this relationship remain largely unexplored.

Janet P. Boldizar

Papers

The prevalence and consequences of exposure to violence among African-American youth.