Exploring gender differences in the association between young African American mothers' reports of preschoolers' violence exposure and problem behavior.

The prevalence of children's violence exposure, particularly among ethnic minorities living in urban areas, is troubling. Gender differences in the rates and effects of violence exposure on behavior have been found for older children, and the current study extends this research to preschool-age children. We draw on data collected from a sample of 3- to 5-year-olds born to 230 adolescent African American mothers living in Washington, DC. Girls and boys were exposed to comparable levels of witnessed and directly experienced violence. In contrast to findings from studies of older children, preschool-age boys' and girls' externalizing and internalizing behavior were comparably associated with directly experienced and witnessed violence. These findings highlight the importance of further developmental research to differentiate the effects of violence exposure as children grow older.