Community violence exposure and children's social adjustment in the school peer group: The mediating roles of emotion regulation and social cognition.

Abstract

This study reports a cross-sectional investigation of the relation between community violence exposure and peer group social maladjustment in 285 inner-city children in Grades 4-6 (mean age = 10.3 years). Children completed an inventory assessing exposure to community violence through witnessing and through direct victimization. A peer nomination inventory was then administered to assess social adjustment with peers (aggression, peer rejection, and bullying by peers). In addition, social-cognitive biases and emotion regulation capacities were examined as potential mediators. Analyses indicated that violent victimization was associated with negative social outcomes through the mediation of emotion dysregulation. Witnessed violence was linked only to aggressive behavior. Social information processing, rather than emotion dysregulation, appeared to mediate this association. These results demonstrate that violence exposure is linked to multiple levels of behavioral and social maladjustment and suggest that there are distinct patterns of risk associated with different forms of exposure.

Cites (5)

1. Comparative fit indexes in structural models.
   Bentler, P. M. · 1990 · Psychological Bulletin
2. A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment
   Crick, Nicki R., Dodge, Kenneth A. · 1994 · Psychological Bulletin
3. Toward an Ecological/Transactional Model of Community Violence and Child Maltreatment: Consequences for Children’s Development
   Cicchetti, Dante, Lynch, Michael · 1993 · Psychiatry
4. The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth
   GORMAN–SMITH, DEBORAH, TOLAN, PATRICK · 1998 · Development and Psychopathology
5. Cognitive Social Learning Mediators of Aggression
   Perry, David G., Perry, Louise C., Rasmussen, Paul · 1986 · Child Development

Show all 5 references

Cited by (21)

1. Toward a new definition of mental health
   Galderisi, Silvana, Heinz, Andreas, Kastrup, Marianne, Beezhold, Julian, Sartorius, Norman · 2015 · World Psychiatry
2. Harsh parenting in relation to child emotion regulation and aggression
   Chang, Lei, Schwartz, David, Dodge, Kenneth A., McBride-Chang, Catherine · 2003 · Journal of Family Psychology
3. Effects of marital conflict on children: recent advances and emerging themes in process‐oriented research
   Cummings, E. Mark, Davies, Patrick T. · 2002 · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
4. Cyberbullying in adolescents: Modalities and aggressors’ profile
   Calvete, Esther, Orue, Izaskun, Estévez, Ana, Villardón, Lourdes, Padilla, Patricia · 2010 · Computers in Human Behavior
5. Impact of Child Maltreatment and Interadult Violence on Children’s Emotion Regulation Abilities and Socioemotional Adjustment
   Maughan, Angeline, Cicchetti, Dante · 2002 · Child Development

See all 524