Citation

Scarpa A, Hurley JD, Shumate HW, Haden SC. J. Interpers. Violence 2006; 21(1): 5-23.

Affiliation

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA. ascarpa@vt.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260505281661

PMID

16399921

Abstract

This study extends findings on community violence (CV) exposure in young adults by examining the prevalence, characteristics, and socioemotional effects related to hearing about violence. Surveys of lifetime CV exposure and socioemotional outcomes were completed by 518 male and female undergraduates completed and were divided into groups with high, moderate, or low scores on hearing. Of respondents, 97.8% reported hearing about violence at least once, with a substantial proportion hearing about different types of acts. Reportedly, the most frequent perpetrators were nonfamily members, the most frequent location was near home, and most incidents occurred within the past year. The high-scoring group reported significantly greater levels of depressed mood, posttraumatic stress symptoms, aggressive behavior, and interpersonal problems associated with personality disorders. Results extend previous findings on the unfortunate prevalence of violence exposure and its negative psychological effects in today's young adults and suggest that chronic exposure to hearing about violence can have deleterious repercussions.