Identifying patterns and mechanistic pathways from violence exposure trajectories to aggressive behavior and psychological disorders

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Project Summary Violence exposure among children and adolescents is a major public health concern associated with significant short and long-term consequences in all domains of functioning including academic, social, physical, and psychological. Although researchers often refer to the complex and heterogeneous experiences of those exposed to violence, most studies focus on exposure at a single-time points and in narrowly defined contexts. As a result, we have scant information about (1) the nature, timing, and co-occurrence of violence exposure types, (2) how developmental transitions and different contexts influence patterns or profiles of exposure, and (3) whether different patterns of exposure and the timing of exposure differentially predict trajectories of outcomes such as mental health and subsequent perpetration of violence. The proposed study will systematically examine the timing and patterning of violence exposure in childhood and adolescence and the mechanisms by which different types of violence may influence developmental trajectories of mental health, substance use, and the perpetration of violence. We propose to analyze data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN; N=1354) to characterize victimization and exposure experiences (collectively referred to as violence exposure) from birth to age 18 and the short and long-term consequences. The specific aims of the project are to (1) describe the developmental patterns of violence exposure in a sample of high-risk children from birth to age 18, (2) identify the short and long-term effects of violence exposure on mental health problems, and youth perpetration of violence and (3) examine mediating influences on violence exposure trajectories and outcomes. This proposal capitalizes on an existing, large-scale, longitudinal dataset with unprecedented detail on the areas of interest including repeated, multi-informant assessments of victimization and violence exposure experiences, multi-point assessment of mental health and engagement in the perpetration of violence. We anticipate that this research will advance the priorities of NICHD to better understand the evolution and impact of violence exposure across development, and help to inform the translation of research into effective prevention and intervention efforts.