Community violence exposure and aggression among urban adolescents: testing a cognitive mediator model

Past research has shown that exposure to violence leads to aggressive behavior, but few community‐based studies have examined theoretical models illustrating the mediating social cognitive processes that explain this relation with youth exposed to high rates of violence. This study examines the impact of community violence on behavior through cognitive mediators: normative beliefs about aggression and self‐efficacy to control aggression. Self‐report surveys were completed by two samples (cross‐sectional and longitudinal) of early adolescent, urban African American youth. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate a theoretical model, and results demonstrated a good fit with both samples; that is more exposure to community violence was associated with more retaliatory beliefs supporting aggression, which led to less self‐efficacy to control aggression, which led to more aggressive behavior. These findings are examined in the context of community factors, and implications for prevention and intervention are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.