Home, school, and community violence exposure and emotional and conduct problems among low-income adolescents: the moderating role of age and sex

Isabel Altenfelder Bordin; Bjørn Helge Handegård; Cristiane S Paula; Cristiane S Duarte; John Andreas Rønning

doi:10.1007/s00127-021-02143-4

Home, school, and community violence exposure and emotional and conduct problems among low-income adolescents: the moderating role of age and sex

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2022 Jan;57(1):95-110. doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02143-4. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Authors

Isabel Altenfelder Bordin¹, Bjørn Helge Handegård², Cristiane S Paula^{3

4}, Cristiane S Duarte⁵, John Andreas Rønning⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 740, São Paulo, SP, 04038-030, Brazil. iasbordin@gmail.com.
² Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, NO-9037, Tromsø, Norway.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 740, São Paulo, SP, 04038-030, Brazil.
⁴ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Distúrbios do Desenvolvimento, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Rua da Consolação 896 (Edifício 28 Consolação), São Paulo, SP, 01302-000, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University - New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive Unit #43, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
⁶ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, NO-9037, Tromsø, Norway.

PMID: 34417860
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-021-02143-4

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess whether violence exposure is associated with emotional/conduct problems, when adjusting for confounders/covariates and controlling for comorbidity, and to investigate interactions between violence exposure and sex and/or age.

Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated a community-based sample of 669 in-school 11-15-year-olds. A three-stage probabilistic sampling plan included a random selection of census units, eligible households, and target child. Multivariable logistic regression investigated the effect of severe physical punishment by parents, peer victimization at school, and community violence on the study outcomes (adolescent-reported emotional/conduct problems identified by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire/SDQ) when controlling for confounders (resilience, parental emotional warmth, maternal education/unemployment/anxiety/depression) and covariates (age, sex, stressful life events, parental rejection).

Results: Considering interactions, emotional problems were associated with community violence victimization among girls, while conduct problems were associated with severe physical punishment among the younger, suffering peer aggression among the oldest, bullying victimization among girls, and witnessing community violence among boys. Desensitization (less emotional problems with greater violence exposure) was noted among the youngest exposed to severe physical punishment and the oldest who witnessed community violence.

Conclusion: Age and sex are moderators of the association between violence exposure and emotional/conduct problems. Interventions at local health units, schools, and communities could reduce the use of harsh physical punishment as a parental educational method, help adolescents deal with peer aggression at school and keep them out of the streets by increasing the usual five hours in school per day and making free sports and cultural/leisure activities available near their homes.

Keywords: Adolescence; Effect modifier, epidemiologic; Exposure to violence; Mental health.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Crime Victims*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exposure to Violence*
Female
Humans
Male
Schools
Violence

Grants and funding

201470/H30/Norges Forskningsråd