The role of social and cognitive processes in children's adjustment to community violence

This study examined associations of community violence exposure and psychological well-being among 998-12 year old children (M = 10.7 years) using home interviews with mothers and children. Both moderators and mediators of the links between violence exposure and well-being were tested after demographics and concurrent life stressors were controlled for, violence exposure was significantly associated with intrusive thinking, anxiety, and depression. Regression analyses indicated that intrusive thinking partially mediated associations between violence exposure and internalizing symptoms. Planned comparisons revealed that violence exposure had the strongest effect on well-being among children with low social support or high levels of social strains. Furthermore, children with high levels of intrusive thinking were most likely to show heightened internalizing symptoms when they had inadequate social support.