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Common patterns of violence experiences and depression and anxiety among adolescents

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

A considerable amount of research has examined violence experiences and psychopathology; however, few studies have examined how multiple settings and experiences of violence are associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Methods

The sample included 2,345 adolescents from a community-based sample in the US. The mean age was 14 years at the time that violence experiences in the home, school, and neighborhood were reported; psychiatric outcomes were assessed 2 years later using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. We applied latent class analysis to identify adolescents with common patterns of violence exposure and obtained adjusted prevalence ratios for the associations between violence classes and psychopathology.

Results

A four-class model was selected based on fit statistics and meaningfulness, and adolescents were categorized into four classes: low violence, home violence, neighborhood violence/traumatic news, and multiple settings of violence. Relative to adolescents in the low violence class, risk of MDD for adolescents in the home violence, neighborhood violence/traumatic news, and multiple settings classes was 1.62, 1.47, and 2.44 times higher, respectively (p values <0.05); risk for GAD was 1.61 and 2.87 times higher for adolescents in the neighborhood violence/traumatic news and multiple settings classes, respectively (p values <0.05).

Conclusion

Exposure to a high level of violence—within a single domain or multiple domains—poses significant risk for MDD and GAD, and risk increases with high exposure in multiple domains. Thus, pervasive exposure to violence is associated with the highest risk for the development of psychopathology. Based on these results, prevention and treatment efforts should target adolescents exposed to violence in multiple settings.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a doctoral research award to the first author from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

    Natalie Slopen, David R. Williams & Stephen E. Gilman

  2. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, 50 Church St., Fourth Floor, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Natalie Slopen

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

    Garrett M. Fitzmaurice

  4. Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

    David R. Williams

  5. Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

    David R. Williams

  6. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

    Stephen E. Gilman

Authors
  1. Natalie Slopen
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  2. Garrett M. Fitzmaurice
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  3. David R. Williams
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  4. Stephen E. Gilman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalie Slopen.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 7.

Table 7 Items within each of the eight domains of violence utilized in LCA; all items were dichotomous, and reported to occur in the year prior to interview
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Slopen, N., Fitzmaurice, G.M., Williams, D.R. et al. Common patterns of violence experiences and depression and anxiety among adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47, 1591–1605 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0466-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0466-5

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