Abstract

The present study aims to identify the impact of direct, indirect and contextual victimization of community violence on externalized and internalized behavior symptoms in young people. The participants were 1,500 students from four universities in northern and central Mexico participated in the study 988 were women and 512 men, with an average age of 20.8 years. Students responded to the HSCL-A questionnaire that measures internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the checklist of direct and indirect exposure to community violence, and the CVCV questionnaire that measures contextual victimization of community. The results indicate high rates of direct, indirect y contextual victimization as well as statistically significant differences between victims and non-victims. Linear regression by stepwise indicated that the three variables studied serve as predictor elements for the appearance of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. 

Keywords: Community Violence, Youth, Symptoms Internalizing, Symptoms Externalizing