In 2008, more than 60 percent of children (ages 17 and younger) were exposed to violencea within the past year, either directly (as victims) or indirectly (as witnesses).
(Note: this indicator deals with exposure to actual violence, not violence depicted on television, videos, or other media.)
Importance
Children are more likely to be exposed to violence and crime than adults are.1 The experience of violence can lead to lasting physical, mental, and emotional harm, whether the child is a direct victim or a witness. Children who are exposed to violence are more likely to suffer from attachment problems, regressive behavior, anxiety, and depression, and to have aggression and conduct problems. Other health-related problems, as well as academic and cognitive problems, delinquency, and involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are also associated with experiences of violence.2, 3, 4
One mechanism through which early, chronic exposure to violence affects children is by disrupting the developing brain. Specific brain structures (amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex) are adversely affected by stress. Executive functions (such as planning, memory, focusing attention, impulse control, and using new information to make decisions) can become impaired. Moreover, children who have had chronic exposure to real or perceived threats may become conditioned to react with fear and anxiety to a broad range of circumstances. Their diminished capacity to differentiate between real threats and objectively safe or neutral situations can impair their ability to learn and interact with others, and may lead to serious anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, while fear learning happens early in life, with emotional memories that are powerful and persistent, unlearning fears depends upon brain maturation that happens only later, and requires active work and evidence-based treatment.5
a As used here, violence includes assaults, bullying (including emotional bullying), sexual victimization, child maltreatment by an adult, and witnessed and indirect victimization.
Children exposed to violence are more likely than those not experiencing violence to become victims or perpetrators of further violence.6, 7 For example, victims of dating violence are considerably more likely to engage in sexual activity and other risky behaviors (binge drinking, suicide attempts, physical fights) than are non-victims.8 However, even multiple types of direct victimization within a single year are not uncommon.9
Trends
Data on this issue come primarily from the 2008 National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), the first nationally representative survey on these topics. Youth ages ten and older were interviewed directly; for children younger than 10, interviews were conducted with their adult caregivers. The survey’s sponsors believe the data likely understate children’s actual exposure to violence, because they rely on family members to report incidents, some of which may be undisclosed, minimized, or not recalled.10
According to NatSCEV, nearly one-half (46 percent) of children were physically assaulted within the previous year, and more than half (57 percent) had been assaulted during their lifetime. Ten percent suffered some form of maltreatment in the past year (19 percent during their lifetime); six percent reported being sexually victimized in the past year (10 percent over their lifetime). (Table 1) Thirty-eight percent of children in the NatSCEV sample reported more than one direct form of victimization in the past year. More than a third reported two or more such incidents, and one percent reported 10 or more direct victimizations in the past year.11
Twenty-five percent of children in the NatSCEV study had witnessed violence in their homes, schools, and communities in the past year, and 38 percent had witnessed violence against another person during their lifetimes. Nearly one in ten (9.8 percent) saw one family member assault another in the past year, while one in five (20.3 percent) had witnessed this scenario over their lifetime. (Table 2)
Children who were exposed to one type of violence, both in the past year and over their lifetimes, had a a far greater risk of experiencing other types of violence. Of the children who reported being exposed to violence during their lifetimes, 87 percent also reported being exposed to violence in the past year.12
Differences by Age
In general the type of violence children were exposed to increased in severity with age. For example, both lifetime and past-year rates for maltreatment rose: 16 percent of children ages 14-17 reported maltreatment in the past year, and 32 percent during their lifetime. The lifetime incidence of physical assault also increased, with 71 percent of 14- to 17-year-olds reporting being physically assaulted during their lifetimes.13 (Table 1, Figure 1)
For children ages six to nine, the most common exposure to violence was assault without a weapon or without injury, assaults by a sibling, and bullying and teasing. Exposure to these kinds of violence declined in older age groups. More serious types of victimizations, including assault with a weapon, sexual harassment, and kidnapping, were more common among 10- to13-year-olds. This group was also the most likely to witness violence in the home, including domestic violence involving their parents, and assaults by other family members. Fourteen- to 17-year-olds were most likely to experience the most serious forms of violence. Of these the most common were assaults with injury, gang violence, sexual assaults, physical and emotional abuse, and witnessing violence in the community. Adolescents ages 14-17 were far more likely than younger age groups to be sexually victimized (including flashing or exposure by a peer, sexual harassment, and sexual assault): 16 percent in the previous year; 27 percent during their lifetimes.14
Rates for indirect exposure to violence (which could include hearing about, or being told about, or seeing evidence of violence in the community, or being exposed to shooting, bombs, or riots) grew by a factor of seven between ages two to five, and older adolescence (ages 14 to 17). Among the latter group, more than seven in ten had witnessed violence against another person during their lives. Rates for witnessing family violence in the past year were fairly constant across all age groups, ranging from six to 11 percent. (Table 2, Figure 1)
Differences by Gender
In general, males were more likely than females to be victims of assault. Fifty percent of males were assaulted in the past year, compared to 42 percent of females. Lifetime incidence of assault follows the same trend: 60 percent among males, and 53 percent among females. (Table 1) Males were also more likely than females to witness violence over their lifetimes: 40 and 35 percent, respectively. (Table 2) Males witnessed more assault, murder, and shootings in the community, both in the past-year and during their lifetime.15
Females were more likely than males to be sexually victimized in the past year, (seven and five percent, respectively), and during their lifetime (12 and eight percent, respectively). (Table 1) Females ages 14-17 had the highest rates of sexual victimization: eight percent in the past year, and 19 percent during their lifetimes.16
Both sexes reported similar patterns of child maltreatment, though girls were more likely to experience psychological or emotional abuse. There were no significant differences by gender in witnessing family violence.17
State and Local Estimates
State-by-state comparisons on risky youth behavior, including some violence indicators, are available from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey; results available here.
State-by-state data on juvenile arrests for violent crime are available here.
International Estimates
The Health Behavior in School-aged Children was conducted in five industrialized countries, including the U.S., in 1997-98. Selected results related to violence among adolescents are available here.
National Goals
The national Healthy People 2010 initiative has identified several goals related to this indicator. See Select “Violence and Abuse Prevention” under “15. Injury and Violence Prevention.”
What Works to Make Progress on This Indicator
Home visiting for first-time mothers, and comprehensive early education and family support have been shown to be effective in reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect. See What Works . . . under the DataBank indicator, Child Maltreatment.
A number of universal school-based programs have been shown to be effective in preventing or reducing violence among school-aged youth. See the report from the Task Force on Community Preventative Services.
Recommended public health approaches to the treatment of children exposed to violence include specific training for professionals working with families experiencing trauma; developmentally appropriate interventions for children in programs addressing domestic violence; and programs that address the emotional needs of children living under circumstances where they are likely to experience violence (e.g., poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, neighborhood violence). See the report of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing anxiety and fear. See the report of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.
Related Indicators
Adolescents Who Have Ever Been Raped
Attitudes Toward Spanking
Child Maltreatment
Dating Violence
Neighborhood Safety
Physical Fighting by Youth
Students Carrying Weapons
Teen Homicide, Suicide, and Firearm Deaths
Unsafe at School
Violent Crime Victimization
Definition
The National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence measured children’s exposure to violence in the following categories: assaults, bulling (including emotional bullying and Internet harassment), sexual victimization, child maltreatment by an adult, and witnessed and indirect victimization. Types of indirect victimization included exposure to shootings, bombs, or riots; exposure to war or ethnic conflict; being told about or seeing evidence of a violent event in the child’s household or community; theft or burglary from the child’s household; or a credible threat of a bomb or attack against the child’s school.
Data Source
Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, S., & Hamby, S. L. (2009). Violence, abuse, and crime exposure in a national sample of children and youth. Pediatrics, 124 (5), 1411-1423
Raw Data Source
National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. www.unh.edu/ccrc/projects/natscev.html
Recommended Citation: Child Trends (2010). Children’s Exposure to Violence. Retrieved from www.childtrendsdatabank.org/alphalist?q=node/356
Last Update: 2010
1Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R., Hamby, S., & Kracke, K. (2009) Children’s exposure to violence: A comprehensive national survey. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227744.pdf
2 Margolin, G., & Elana B. G., (2004) Children’s exposure to violence in the family and community. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, (4), 152-155. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/20182938.pdf.
3 Finkelhor, et al. Op. cit.
4 Duke, N. N., Pettingell, S. L., McMorris, B. J., and Borowsky, I. W. (2010). Adolescent violence perpetration: Associations with multiple types of adverse childhood experiences. Pediatrics, 124 (4), e778-e786.
5 National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2010). Persistent fear and anxiety can affect young children’s learning and development: Working paper No. 9. Retrieved from www.developingchild.net.
6 Margolin and Elana. Op. cit.
7 Finkelhor, et al. Op. cit.
8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2006). Physical dating violence among high school students—United States, 2003. MMWR, 55 (19), 532-535. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5519.pdf
9 Finkelhor, et al. Op. cit.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17Ibid.
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