Adolescents' exposure to community violence: Sleep and psychophysiological functioning

The relationships among psychophysiological indices, sleep disturbance, and adolescents' exposure to community violence were examined in a pilot study of 64 community youth (ages 16–18; 84% African American), 25 of whom had their blood pressure and pulse rates assessed. Neither age nor gender differences were found in self-reported sleep disturbance or community violence exposure. Self-reported exposure to community violence and sleep deprivation were positively related. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) revealed that youth at the highest of three levels of violence exposure had the lowest resting pulse rates. These results suggest that youth in communities marked by pervasive violence may be physiologically adapting and emotionally desensitizing to that violence. Implications for intervention are discussed.