title: Adolescents' psychological response to the experience of community interpersonal violence: a cross-national and a cross-cultural comparison.
abstract: A comparative cross-national study investigating the level of experience with community interpersonal violence, level of psychological distress, and the relationship between exposure and distress among adolescents is presented. Participants were 617 first-year college students comprising African Americans and Jamaican Americans living in New York City, and Jamaicans living in Kingston, Jamaica. The three groups are similar in terms of age, gender, educational level, and race; they differ in location of residence, culture, and immigration status. Location of residence is related to exposure; immigration status is related to distress; but culture is not related to vulnerability when exposed. The effect size of the relationship between exposure and distress appears to be robust across variations in culture, amount of exposure, and level of distress.
authors.affiliation: Social Sciences Department, York College of The City University of New York, 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11451, USA. rosenthal@york.cuny.edu
authors.forename: Beth Spenciner
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.forename: W Cody
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D044383:Black People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D001741:Black or African American