Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The 39-Item Child Exposure to Community Violence (CECV) Scale: Exploratory Factor Analysis and Relationship to PTSD Symptomatology in Trauma-Exposed Children and Adolescents

  • Published:
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Exposure to multiple forms of community violence in youth is associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes. A number of scales measuring community violence exposure have been developed, including the Child Exposure to Community Violence Checklist (CECV).

Purpose

This study examined the psychometric properties of an adapted version of the CECV in a South African sample of trauma-exposed youths. In addition, the study assessed the relationship between exposure to community violence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology.

Methods

Trauma-exposed youth completed two self-report instruments, namely, the CECV and the Child PTSD Checklist (CPC), on a single occasion. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to investigate the factor structure of the CECV, and the association between CECV and CPC scores was also explored.

Results

EFA of the CECV revealed three factors that accounted for 38.66 % of variance in the model and consisted of 29 of the original 39 items. Reliability of the three factors ranged from moderate to excellent (α = 0.682 to α = 0.892). Exposure to community violence was positively correlated with posttraumatic stress symptomatology (r = 0.464, p < 0.001). Adolescents attending high school reported significantly higher levels of exposure to community violence than did children in primary school.

Conclusion

Findings provide support for the conceptualization of exposure to community violence as comprising distinct, multiple factors. Levels of exposure to community violence and family violence were high. We found a highly significant, positive association between exposure to community violence and PTSD symptomatology, providing evidence for the convergent validity of the CECV.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fehon DC, Grilo CM, Lipschitz DS. Correlates of community violence exposure in hospitalized adolescents. Comp Psychiatr. 2001;42(4):283–90.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kennedy AC. Urban adolescent mothers exposed to community, family, and partner violence: prevalence, outcomes and welfare policy implications. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2006;76(1):44–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Richters JE, Martinez P. The NIMH community violence project: I. Children as victims of and witnesses to violence. Psychiatry. 1993;56(1):7–21.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Richters JE, Martinez P. The NIMH community violence project: II. Children’s distress symptoms associated with violence exposure. Psychiatry. 1993;56(1):22–35.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Thompson R, Proctor LJ, Weisbart C, Lewis TL, English DL, Hussey JM. Children’s self-reports about violence exposure: an examination of the Things I Have Seen and Heard Scale. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2007;77(3):454–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Finkelhor D, Dziuba-Leatherman J. Children as victims of violence: a national survey. Pediatrics. 1994;84(4):413–20.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Buka SL, Stichick TL, Birdthistle I, Earls FJ. Youth exposure to violence: prevalence, risks, and consequences. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2001;71(3):298–310.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Stein BD, Jaycox LH, Kataoka S, Rhodes HJ, Vestal KD. Prevalence of child and adolescent exposure to community violence. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2003;6(4):247–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. O’Donnell DA, Roberts WC, Schwab-Stone ME. Community violence exposure and post-traumatic stress reactions among Gambian youth: the moderating role of positive school climate. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol. 2011;46:59–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Lockhat R, van Niekerk A. South African children: a history of adversity, violence and trauma. Ethn Health. 2000;5(3/4):291–302.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Seedat S, van Nood E, Vythilingum B, Stein D, Kaminer D. School survey of exposure to violence and posttraumatic stress symptoms in adolescents. South Afr J Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2000;12(1):38–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Seedat S, Nyamai C, Njenga F, Vythilingum B, Stein DJ. Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms in urban African schools. Survey in Cape Town and Nairobi. Br J Psychiatr. 2004;184(2):169–75.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ensink K, Robertson BA, Zissis C, Leger P. Post-traumatic stress disorder in children exposed to violence. S Afr Med J. 1997;87(11):1526–30.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Shields N, Nadasen K, Pierce L. The effects of community violence on children in Cape Town, South Africa. Child Abuse Negl. 2008;32(5):589–601.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Fowler PJ, Tompsett CJ, Brciszewski JM, Jacques-Tiura J, Baltes BB. Community violence: a meta-analysis on the effect of exposure and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents. Dev Psychopathol. 2009;21(1):227–59.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Fincham DS, Altes LK, Stein DJ, Seedat S. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in adolescents: risk versus resilience moderation. Comp Psychiatr. 2009;50(3):193–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hertweck S, Ziegler C, Logdson MC. Outcome of exposure to community violence in female adolescents. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2010;23(4):202–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Lambert SF, Copeland-Linder N, Ialongo NS. Longitudinal associations between community violence exposure and suicidality. J Adolesc Health. 2008;43(4):380–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Mathews T, Dempsey M, Overstreet S. Effects of exposure to community violence on school functioning: the mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Behav Res Ther. 2009;47(7):586–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Milam A, Furr-Holden C, Leaf P. Perceived school and neighborhood safety, neighborhood violence and academic achievement in urban school children. Urban Rev. 2010;42(5):458–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Schwartz D, Gorman H. Community violence exposure and children’s academic functioning. J Educ Psychol. 2003;95(1):163–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Shavers CA. The interrelationships of exposure to community violence and trauma to the behavioral patterns and academic performance among urban elementary school-aged children. Diss Abstr Int. 2000;61(4B):1876.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Gorman-Smith D, Tolan P. The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth. Dev Psychopathol. 1998;10(01):101–16.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Taylor KW, Kliewer W. Violence exposure and early adolescent alcohol use: an exploratory study of family risk and protective factors. J Child Fam Stud. 2006;15(2):207–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Voisin DR, Neilands RB, Salazar LF, Crosby R, DiClemente RJ. Pathways to drug and sexual risk behaviors among detained adolescents. Soc Work Res. 2008;32(3):147–57.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Landis RS, Dempsey MT, Overstreet S. Conceptualizing exposure to community violence: an application of confirmatory factor analysis. Sch Psychol Q. 2003;18(3):303–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Trickett PK, Durán L, Horn JL. Community violence as it affects child development: issues of definition. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2003;6(4):223–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Richters JE, Martinez P. Things I have seen and heard: a structured interview for assessing young children’s violence exposure. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Amaya-Jackson L. Child’s exposure to violence checklist. Adopted from Richter’s Things I’ve Seen and Heard. Trauma evaluation, treatment and research program. Durham: Center for Child and Family Health; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Lipschitz DS, Grilo CM, Fehon DC. Psychometric study of the Child’s Exposure to Violence Checklist. Unpublished manuscript. West Haven: National Center for PTSD; 2000.

  31. Bruwer B, Emsley R, Kidd M, Lochner C, Seedat S. Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support in youth. Comp Psychiatr. 2008;49(2):195–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Cluver L, Bowes L, Gardner F. Risk and protective factors for bullying victimization among AIDS-affected and vulnerable children in South Africa. Child Abuse Negl. 2010;34(10):793–803.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Cluver L, Fincham DS, Seedat S. Posttraumatic stress in AIDS-orphaned children exposed to high levels of trauma: the protective role of perceived social support. J Trauma Stress. 2009;22(2):106–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: Author; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Kaufman J, Birmaher B, Brent D, Rao U, Flynn C, Moreci P, et al. Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): initial reliability and validity data. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr. 1997;36(7):980–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Services SAP. Crime in the Republic of South Africa for the period from April to March 1994/5 to 2003/4. Pretoria: Crime Information Analysis Centre; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Newman E, Amaya-Jackson L. Assessment of trauma instruments for children. Paper presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Traumatic Stress Studies, San Francisco, November; 1996.

  38. March JS, Amaya-Jackson L, Terry R, Costanzo P. Posttraumatic symptomatology in children and adolescents after an industrial fire. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr. 1997;36(8):1080–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. McCart MR, Smith DW, Saunders BE, Kilpatrick DG, Resnick H, Ruggiero KJ. Do urban adolescents become desensitized to community violence? Data from a national survey. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2007;77(3):434–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Zona K, Milan S. Gender differences in the longitudinal impact of exposure to violence on mental health in urban youth. J Youth Adolesc. 2011;40(12):1674–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Selner-O’Hagan MB, Kindlon DJ, Buka SL, Raudenbush SW, Earls FJ. Assessing exposure to violence in urban youth. J Child Psychol Psychiatr. 1998;39(2):215–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Foster JD, Kuperminc GP, Price AW. Gender differences in posttraumatic stress and related symptoms among inner-city minority youth exposed to community violence. J Youth Adolesc. 2004;33(1):59–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Medical Research Council’s Unit on Anxiety Disorders and the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation. The South African Research Chair Program in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is hosted by the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University. The authors wish to thank Dr. Justin Harvey and Prof. Martin Kidd for their assistance with the statistical analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, Cape Town, South Africa

    Lindi Martin, Nicola Revington & Soraya Seedat

Authors
  1. Lindi Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nicola Revington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Soraya Seedat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lindi Martin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martin, L., Revington, N. & Seedat, S. The 39-Item Child Exposure to Community Violence (CECV) Scale: Exploratory Factor Analysis and Relationship to PTSD Symptomatology in Trauma-Exposed Children and Adolescents. Int.J. Behav. Med. 20, 599–608 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9269-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9269-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation