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Community Violence Victimization and Depressed MoodThe Moderating Effects of Coping and Social SupportVirginia Tech, schaden{at}vt.edu
Virginia Tech The objectives of the current study were to (a) determine how lifetime community violence (CV) victimization, coping behavior, social support (SS), and depressed mood are related in young adults, and (b) assess whether the relationship between CV victimization and depressive reactions is moderated by perceived SS and coping style. Five hundred fifty college students (160 men, 355 women) completed questionnaires measuring lifetime experiences with violence, current depressed mood, perceptions of SS from family and friends, and general coping styles. Results of a series of hierarchical regressions indicated a positive relationship between frequency of CV victimization and depressed mood. Low levels of perceived SS and problem-focused coping and high levels of disengagement coping were associated with increased depression scores overall, but there was an interaction effect such that high disengagement coping strengthened the relationship between CV and depressed mood. Moreover, when controlling for the effect of posttraumatic stress, high-perceived friend support and low disengagement coping served as protective factors for depressed mood. These results were particularly strong in individuals whose last CV experience occurred within the previous 2 years. Findings suggest that perceptions of support and ability to actively cope with stressors are very important in the adjustment to CV victimization.
Key Words: violence victimization depression social support coping
This version was published on September
1, 2008 Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 23, No. 9,
1213-1234 (2008) This article has been cited by other articles:
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