Exposure to violence, parental monitoring, and television viewing as contributors to children's psychological trauma

This study examined the relative contributions of exposure to violence, parental monitoring, and television viewing habits to children's self-reported symptoms of psychological trauma. Children in grades 3-8 in 11 public schools completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire administered during usual school hours. The final sample was comprised of 2245 children who represented 80% of the students in attendance at the participating schools. Students ranged in age from 7 to 15 years; 49% were female, 57% were white, 33% black, and 5% were Hispanic. A model using hierarchical multiple regression explained approximately 39% of the variance in students' overall trauma symptom scores. A combination of demographic variables, daily hours of television viewing, and recent and past exposure to violence were significant contributors to this explained variance. Bivariate analyses of high violence-exposed students (top quartile) revealed approximately 39% of both girls and boys with clinically elevated scores in at least one trauma symptom category. The findings support the need to identify and to provide services for children exposed to violence.