title: Risk Factors for and Behavioral Consequences of Direct Versus Indirect Exposure to Violence.
abstract: Research suggests that direct exposure (personal victimization) and indirect exposure (witnessing or hearing about the victimization of a family member, friend, or neighbor) to violence are correlated. However, questions remain about the co-occurrence of these phenomena within individuals. We used data on 1915 youths (with an average age of 12 years at baseline) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to examine this issue. Results indicated that youths who tended to be personally victimized were also likely to witness violence; conversely, youths who disproportionately witnessed violence were relatively unlikely to experience personal victimization. In addition, direct and indirect exposures to violence were associated with subsequent adverse outcomes in similar ways. The key distinguishing factor was, rather, the cumulative level of violence (both direct and indirect) to which youths were exposed.
authors.affiliation: Gregory M. Zimmerman is with the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Chad Posick is with the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro.
authors.forename: Gregory M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.affiliation: Gregory M. Zimmerman is with the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Chad Posick is with the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro.
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Posick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D000069581:Exposure to Violence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population