The Latent Threat of Community Violence: Indirect Exposure to Local Homicides and Adolescents’ Mental Health in Colombia

This study examines the relation between adolescents’ indirect exposure to local homicides and mental health disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. We employ a sample of 300 adolescents (M_age = 14:52, range = 12-17) representative for Bogotá, Colombia, and geocoded data on violent crimes recorded by the national police. Findings show that one SD increment in local homicides is associated with increments by 0.17 SD in the mental health disorder index and a 0.14 SD increase in the PTSD score index, even after accounting for adolescents’ direct exposure to violence. The estimated effect for PTSD was larger for adolescents’ who were directly exposed to violence and for those living in multidimensionally poor households, whereas no detectable effects were found for adolescents who perceived their residential neighborhood as relatively safe.