TY - JOUR
T1 - The Association Between Violence Exposure and Aggression and Anxiety
T2 - The Role of Peer Relationships in Adaptation for Middle School Students
AU - Goodearl, Anna Ward
AU - Salzinger, Suzanne
AU - Rosario, Margaret
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported in part by a grant from the New York Foundling/Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection and NIMH grant # R01 MH056198.
Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/4
Y1 - 2014/4
N2 - This study examined how peer relationships contribute to young adolescents' adaptation in the face of exposure to community and family violence. It tested hypotheses about peers' role in processes relating exposure to behavioral and psychological outcomes, specifically, aggression and anxiety. Data were collected from 667 middle school students, followed from sixth grade to eighth grade, in a high crime urban school district, and from their parents and classmates. Friends' antisocial behavior mediated the relationship between violence exposure and later aggressive behavior. A bias toward hostile attribution contributed to, but did not alone explain, the relationship. Friends' prosocial behavior failed to moderate the association between exposure and later aggressive behavior. Social acceptance moderated the relationship between exposure and later anxiety when exposure was low, but not when it was high. Peer intimacy/closeness, while demonstrating a direct, inverse effect on anxiety, failed to moderate the association between violence exposure and anxiety.
AB - This study examined how peer relationships contribute to young adolescents' adaptation in the face of exposure to community and family violence. It tested hypotheses about peers' role in processes relating exposure to behavioral and psychological outcomes, specifically, aggression and anxiety. Data were collected from 667 middle school students, followed from sixth grade to eighth grade, in a high crime urban school district, and from their parents and classmates. Friends' antisocial behavior mediated the relationship between violence exposure and later aggressive behavior. A bias toward hostile attribution contributed to, but did not alone explain, the relationship. Friends' prosocial behavior failed to moderate the association between exposure and later aggressive behavior. Social acceptance moderated the relationship between exposure and later anxiety when exposure was low, but not when it was high. Peer intimacy/closeness, while demonstrating a direct, inverse effect on anxiety, failed to moderate the association between violence exposure and anxiety.
KW - aggression
KW - anxiety
KW - coping
KW - inner-city / urban
KW - peer relationships
KW - violence / violent behaviors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84894537837&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0272431613489372
DO - 10.1177/0272431613489372
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84894537837
SN - 0272-4316
VL - 34
SP - 311
EP - 338
JO - Journal of Early Adolescence
JF - Journal of Early Adolescence
IS - 3
ER -