Direct and indirect violence exposure: relations to depression for economically disadvantaged ethnic minority mid-adolescents.

Exposure to violence remains a considerable public health problem for adolescents in the United States. This cross-sectional study examined relative associations between exposure to violence in 3 different contexts (home, school, community) and depressive symptoms, using data from 233 11th-graders (predominantly economically disadvantaged Hispanic and African American students). Analyses examined the effects of victimization and witnessing violence in each context and those of cumulative violence exposure across contexts on depression, controlling for other risk factors. Both victimization and witnessing violence at home significantly predicted depression. Violence exposure in school and neighborhood was unrelated to the outcome. Witnessing violence was slightly more effective in predicting depression than victimization. Cumulative violence exposure was significantly related to depression in a linear fashion.