Martin S L, Gordon T E, Kupersmidt J B
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7400, USA.
Public Health Rep. 1995 May-Jun;110(3):268-76.
Numerous children of migrant and seasonal farm workers live in rural areas of our country. The lifestyles and living conditions of farm workers place the children of these families at high risk for many health problems. However, few studies have focused on the emotional and behavioral well-being of these children. This study extends past research by examining the emotional and behavioral health of the children of farm workers in relation to a potentially risky environmental exposure, namely, exposure to violence. In this descriptive study, the extent of violence exposure, including being a witness to and a victim of violence, is examined among 8-11-year-old children of migrant and seasonal farm workers. Potential relationships between sociodemographic factors and violence exposure are examined, and associations between violence exposure and children's emotional and behavioral problems, and weapon carrying behavior are investigated. The results show that more than half of the study children had been exposed to violence, with 46 percent having witnessed violence among others and 19 percent having been the direct victims of violence. There was a fair degree of overlap between having witnessed violence and having been a victim of violence; 13 percent of all study children both witnessed and had been victims of violence, 33 percent only had witnessed violence, and 6 percent only had been victims of violence. Violence exposure was positively related to children's emotional problems, behavioral problems, and weapon carrying behavior. Compared to non exposed children, violence exposed children were eight times more likely to evidence internalizing problems, were six times more likely to evidence externalizing problems, and were four times more likely to carry weapons (specifically, knives or guns).These findings suggest that there is a need for further research on this high-risk population, as well as the need to develop and implement innovative public health interventions for rural children.
许多移民和季节性农场工人的子女生活在我国农村地区。农场工人的生活方式和生活条件使这些家庭的子女面临许多健康问题的高风险。然而，很少有研究关注这些儿童的情绪和行为健康。本研究通过考察农场工人子女的情绪和行为健康与一种潜在的危险环境暴露（即暴力暴露）之间的关系，扩展了以往的研究。在这项描述性研究中，对8至11岁的移民和季节性农场工人子女的暴力暴露程度进行了考察，包括目睹暴力和成为暴力受害者。考察了社会人口学因素与暴力暴露之间的潜在关系，并调查了暴力暴露与儿童情绪和行为问题以及携带武器行为之间的关联。结果显示，超过一半的研究儿童曾遭受暴力暴露，其中46%的儿童目睹过他人暴力，19%的儿童是暴力的直接受害者。目睹暴力和成为暴力受害者之间存在相当程度的重叠；所有研究儿童中有13%既目睹过暴力又是暴力受害者，33%仅目睹过暴力，6%仅成为过暴力受害者。暴力暴露与儿童的情绪问题、行为问题和携带武器行为呈正相关。与未暴露于暴力的儿童相比，暴露于暴力的儿童出现内化问题的可能性高八倍，出现外化问题的可能性高六倍，携带武器（特别是刀或枪）的可能性高四倍。这些发现表明，有必要对这一高风险人群进行进一步研究，同时也有必要为农村儿童制定和实施创新的公共卫生干预措施。
