Predicting school violence: A comparison of violent and nonviolent male students on attitudes toward violence, exposure level to violence, and PTSD symptomatology

This preliminary study examined the relationship of use of violence to exposure to violence, attitudes toward violence, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology in 45 adolescent male perpetrators of school violence and 45 nonviolent control participants from inner-city schools. Participants completed the Exposure to Violence Questionnaire, Attitudes Towards Violence Scale, Checklist of Children's Distress Symptoms, and Use of Violence Scale. The perpetrator and control groups differed in use of violence, exposure to violence, and PTSD symptomatology. Use of violence demonstrated a unique relationship with attitudes toward violence, PTSD, and exposure to violence for the perpetrator sample, with the relationship between exposure to and use of violence remaining significant after controlling for attitudes and PTSD. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.