1. Community Violence, PTSD, Hopelessness, Substance Use, and Perpetuation of Violence in an Urban Environment.
- Author
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Raman, Uma, Bonanno, Philip A., Sachdev, Devika, Govindan, Aparna, Dhole, Atharva, Salako, Oluwafeyijimi, Patel, Jay, Noureddine, Lama R., Tu, Jessica, Guevarra-Fernández, Jenieve, Leto, Ashley, Nemeh, Christopher, Patel, Aesha, Nicheporuck, Alexis, Tran, Ashley, and Kennedy, Cheryl A.
- Subjects
VIOLENCE in the community ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,SELF-evaluation ,BECK Hopelessness Scale ,POST-traumatic stress disorder ,VIOLENCE ,REGRESSION analysis ,MEDICAL screening ,COMMUNITY health services ,SEVERITY of illness index ,SEX distribution ,DESPAIR ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,CHI-squared test ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,METROPOLITAN areas ,STATISTICAL sampling ,STATISTICAL correlation ,LOGISTIC regression analysis - Abstract
We investigated the relationships among chronic violence exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, hopelessness, substance use, and perpetuation of violence to facilitate the development of trauma-related interventions for residents of Newark, NJ. A convenience sample of Newark residents (N = 153) was recruited from community centers during various events in 2016–2017. Anonymous, self-report survey measures included a PTSD screen (PCL-C), Beck's Hopelessness Scale, the CAGE questionnaire, and a CDC Health Behavior Scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, Chi square analyses, logistic, and linear regressions were used for analysis. Thirty percent (95% CI [22.7, 37.4]) of our sample screened positive for PTSD. Drug and alcohol use, fighting, and hopelessness were related to severity of PTSD symptoms (p < 0.05). Female gender, CAGE scores, and hopelessness predicted the severity of PTSD symptoms (R
2 = 0.354, p < 0.05). Our data has informed the development of a resilience support group currently in the pilot stage for community members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2021
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