title: [Exposure to violence among adolescents in a low-income community in the northeast of Brazil].
abstract: This a cross-sectional study made in Fortaleza, Ceará, 2009, which included 458 teenagers and analyzed their exposure to violence, describing their access to weapons, alcohol abuse, illegal drug use and their self-esteem by investigating their socio-economic, school and family characteristics and exposure to the phenomenon. A questionnaire and/or structured interviews were used for data collection, and analysis involved Pearson's chi-square test, with 95% reliability. Of the 458 participants, 17.7% were considered to be exposed to criminal violence. Significant variables for exposure to violence included: place of birth (p = 0.020), years of schooling (p = 0,009), school absenteeism (p < 0.001), the father as the head of the family (p = 0.026), alcohol-addicted parents (p < 0.001), good/very good family relationships (p = 0.009), and parents' dissatisfaction with their children's friends (p < 0.001). Thus, it is necessary that public policies focus on a support network for care of adolescents and that urban centers organize themselves socially and politically in the quest for understanding the effects of exposure to violence among adolescents in low-income communities.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Saúde Pública do Ceará, Centro de Educação Permanente em Vigilância da Saúde, Fortaleza, CE, 60165-090. deborahpm@gmail.com
authors.forename: Deborah Pedrosa
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Luiza Jane Eyre de Souza
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Augediva Maria Jucá
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pordeus
authors.forename: Samira Valentim Gama
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.forename: Geisy Lanne Muniz
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Luna
authors.forename: Juliana Guimarães
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: e Silva
authors.forename: Maria de Fátima Antero Sousa
authors.initials: Mde F
authors.lastname: Machado
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D012307:Risk Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*