Children and adolescents exposed to community violence: A mental health perspective for school psychologists

Exposure to community violence has become a primary concern for parents, school personnel, students, and the public, in general. With a majority of children and adolescents being exposed to community violence, the need to understand the relationship between violence exposure and youth mental health as well as the protective and vulnerability factors involved is of great importance. This article provides school psychologists with important information regarding child and adolescent mental health problems that have been shown to be related to community violence exposure. In addition, this article provides an examination of the protective and vulnerability factors that may buffer or exacerbate the detrimental effects of exposure to community violence. Implications for school psychologists who are working with youth exposed to community violence or at-risk populations are discussed.