Examining the longitudinal relationships between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior among a sample of maltreated and non-maltreated adolescents

The current investigation sought to elucidate the longitudinal relationships between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior in a sample of 389 maltreated and non-maltreated young adolescent males and females. Of primary interest was examining the effect of adolescents' early community violence exposure and aggressive behavior on their later community violence exposure and aggressive behavior as well as examining how these relationships differ by gender and maltreatment history. The present study was conducted in the context of a larger longitudinal study examining the impacts of child maltreatment on adolescent development. The data used in the current investigation were drawn primarily from the second (T2) and third (T3) data collection waves of the parent study.;To examine the longitudinal relationships, latent variable cross-lagged panel analysis methodology was employed. Results indicated that for the full sample there was no association between early community violence exposure and later aggressive behavior. However, early aggressive behavior contributed to later community violence exposure. Examinations of gender differences revealed that for males, later aggressive behavior was influenced by early exposure. There was no association for females. For both males and females, early aggressive behavior contributed to later community violence exposure. Examination of differences based on maltreatment status indicated that for non-maltreated adolescents, later aggressive behavior was influenced by early community violence exposure. There was no association for maltreated adolescents. Early aggressive behavior placed both maltreated and non-maltreated adolescents at risk for later exposure to community violence. Examination of specific maltreatment type indicated that early community violence exposure predicted later aggressive behavior for the non-maltreated and non-physically maltreated groups. There was no association for the physically maltreated group. Early aggressive behavior placed both non-maltreated and non-physically maltreated adolescents at risk for exposure to violence later on; there was no association for the physically maltreated group.;These results contribute to the field in several significant ways. The results lend support to the small but growing body of literature demonstrating that early aggression places children and adolescents at risk for later victimization. Although the relationship is much more complicated than that, the current study provides evidences that the Exposure → Behavior model that has dominated the field is incomplete. Results also shed light on group differences in the longitudinal associations between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior. The results of this study have important implications for both future research and clinical practice.