Exposure to Violence Leads to Aggressive Acts by Teens

Exposure to violence, especially at school, can influence teens to commit aggressive acts of their own according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Ohio’s Kobacker Center, a hospital devoted to treating the emotional needs of children and teens.

In a yearlong study of more than 50 teens who were inpatients at the Kobacker Center, Dr. Michele Knox, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry, found that those exposed to aggressive behavior, whether witnessed or experienced, were more likely to commit acts of aggression.

Researchers at MCO interviewed the teenagers, ages 13 to 17, and their parents or caretakers while they were inpatients at the Kobacker Center. A year later, the researchers interviewed the families again and asked about aggressive behavior ranging from uncontrollable yelling and threats to use of a weapon.

More than 75 percent of the teens reported engaging in at least one incident of physical aggression toward friends, more than 50 percent reported involvement in fights in the community and almost half of the teens were involved in the legal system in the year following inpatient hospitalization.

“These findings underscore the severe behavior disturbances in youth who seek inpatient hospitalization, and provide compelling evidence of the need for effective interventions for this high-risk group,” said Dr. Knox.

Exposure to school violence was found to be the strongest predictor of aggression. Other risk factors included exposure to domestic violence at home; violence in the community, such as stabbings, gang fights and hearing gunshots; depression; and having pro-violence attitudes.

The study also found that girls reported as many aggressive acts as boys. This finding suggests an increase in physical aggression in females over the past decade and indicates that gender differences in aggression may be diminishing.

“Violence is everywhere, it’s a huge part of our culture and it teaches teenagers, male or female, that it’s an option for solving problems,” said Dr. Knox.

Changing teen attitudes toward violence is an important step in reducing aggression, the study shows. Another key finding was that, of various treatments studied, family therapy/parent training was associated with the most significant decrease in aggression.

“This finding adds weight to the importance of treatments and therapies which address family functioning,” said Dr. Knox.

Dr. Knox also believes preventing or reducing youth’s exposure to violence is essential to reducing youth violence. Increased police presence in violent neighborhoods, domestic violence programming and school violence prevention programs are all methods that may reduce exposure of violence.

The study is published in New Research in Mental Health, a report issued by the Ohio Department of Mental Health.

For more information about this study or to arrange an interview with Dr. Knox contact Matt Lockwood, MCO media relations manager, at (419) 383-5145 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .