Measuring anxiety in adolescents exposed to community violence: a review, comparison, and analysis of three measures.

Exposure to community violence can influence adolescents' anxiety. Researchers have examined the relationship between exposure to community violence and anxiety. In their pursuit to explore that relationship, researchers have used a variety of instruments. This review of literature provides an overview of the instruments used to measure anxiety in adolescents exposed to community violence and evaluates three of these measures. The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children, the Child Behavior Checklist, and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children were frequently used to measure anxiety in adolescents exposed to community violence. These instruments have good reliability and construct validity.