Citation

Martin L, Revington N, Seedat S. Int. J. Behav. Med. 2013; 20(4): 599-608.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, Cape Town, South Africa, lmartin@sun.ac.za.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, International Society of Behavioral Medicine, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12529-012-9269-7

PMID

23055027

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.

Language: en