Profiles of Community Violence Exposure Among African American Youth: An Examination of Desensitization to Violence Using Latent Class Analysis. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The current study employed latent class analysis (LCA) to identify distinct profiles of community violence exposure and their associations to desensitization outcomes in 241 African American early adolescents (M age = 12.86, SD = 1.28) in the sixth through eighth grade from under-resourced urban communities. Participants self-reported on their exposure to community violence, as well as on depressive and anxiety symptoms. The LCA revealed three distinct classes: a class exposed to low levels of violence (low exposure class), a class exposed to moderately high levels of victimization (victimization class), and a class exposed to high levels of all types of violence (high exposure class). Consistent with predictions, the high exposure class showed the lowest levels of depressive symptoms, suggesting a desensitization outcome. Gender and age were also examined in relation to the classes, and age was significantly associated with an increased risk of being a member of the high exposure class relative to the low exposure class. Using person-based analyses to examine desensitization outcomes provides useful information for prevention and intervention efforts, as it helps to identify a specific subgroup of youth that may be more likely to show desensitization outcomes in the context of community violence.

published proceedings

  • J Interpers Violence

author list (cited authors)

  • Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Dickson, D., & Pierre, C.

citation count

  • 54

complete list of authors

  • Gaylord-Harden, Noni K||Dickson, Daniel||Pierre, Cynthia

publication date

  • July 2016