Beliefs About Aggression as Mediators of Relations Between Community Violence Exposure and Aggressive Behavior Among Adolescents: Review and Recommendations

Abstract

Adolescents who are exposed to community violence are at risk for a number of adverse consequences that can persist into adulthood. Community violence exposure has consistently been associated with subsequent aggressive behavior, and beliefs or norms about aggression are one potential mechanism underlying this relation. The goal of this review was to examine and synthesize the literature regarding beliefs about aggression as a mediator of relations between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior among adolescents. A systematic search of the literature identified 10 studies that met inclusion criteria. Findings across studies generally supported the notion that beliefs about aggression mediate relations between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior. However, studies varied considerably in their design and analytic approach which limited conclusions that can be drawn. Because studies were similar in their limitations, several themes were identified and described qualitatively: inappropriate design to examine mediation (i.e., failure to establish temporal precedence of variables); examining a unidimensional construct of general beliefs about aggression; and lack of examining potential differences across subgroups, particularly across sex. Recommendations for future research that will bolster the evidence include drawing on advances in data analytic techniques, investigating multiple aspects of beliefs about aggression, examining differences in mediated effects across subgroups, and investigating beliefs as mechanisms of change in intervention studies. Implications for violence prevention efforts are discussed.

Keywords: Adolescents; Aggressive behavior; Beliefs about aggression; Community violence; Social-cognitive information processing.