Study Indicates Exposure to Violence Jeopardizes Children’s Mental Healthand School Performance

May 15, 2000

Study Indicates Exposure to Violence Jeopardizes Children's Mental Health and School Performance

New research suggests that children who have been frequently exposed to violence perform worse in school, are more anxious and depressed, and have lower self-esteem than children with less exposure do. Hallam Hurt, MD, Chair of the Neonatology Division at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania studied 119 inner-city children from birth until they were seven years old and compiled the research findings into Exposure to Violence: Psychological and Academic Correlates in Child Witnesses.

Dr. Hunt . . .