Post-Traumatic Stress and Growth in the Context of Neighborhood Violence and Crime

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

The link between exposure to neighborhood violence and experiencing post-traumatic stress symptoms is well-established (Boxer & Sloan-Power, 2013). Less is known about the impact of neighborhood violence on post traumatic growth. Post-traumatic growth is a relatively newer construct following from findings that individuals who encounter trauma can overcome strains and ultimately benefit from the experience (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). We explored relations among violence exposure, post-traumatic stress (PTS), and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in a sample of 200 youth (44% male, 90% nonwhite) enrolled in 10th grade in the public school district of a medium-sized northeastern city. Youth completed measures of witnessing of and victimization by violence, symptoms of PTS, and experiences of PTG. Relations between violence exposure and PTS were significant and positive (witnessing/PTS r = .35***; victimization/PTS r = .22**); we observed no relations between violence exposure and PTG. Importantly, we found that PTS and PTG were significantly and positively correlated (r = .22**). These findings suggest that experiences with violence might lead to constructive growth through the challenge of post-traumatic stress. This is consistent with stress mobilization theory (Dubow et al., 2000) and has implications for supporting positive development among youth who have been exposed to violent crime.

Authors

• Carolina Herrera, Rutgers University

• Paul Boxer, Rutgers University

• Sekinat Kuku, Rutgers University

• Catruicha Muscadin, Rutgers University

• Yalitza Nieves, Rutgers University

• Rushabh Shah, Rutgers University

• Jennifer Irving, Rutgers University

• Eric F Dubow, Bowling Green State University

• L. Rowell Huesmann, The University of Michigan