Age-Graded Salience of Exposure to Violence as Predictive of Dual Systems Model Development: Examining Direct Victimization vs. Witnessed Violence

The dual systems model is a developmental cognitive framework found to have utility for explaining engagement in antisocial behavior. Centered on differential development of sensation-seeking and impulse control, the theory has risen to prominence. Despite this, there is limited understanding of how exposure to violence may drive development in these outcomes. Specifically, knowledge is limited in terms of how different forms of exposure to violence (direct victimization, witnessed violence) may influence development of these constructs differently and whether the age at which exposure occurs matters in this regard. The present study utilized the Pathways to Desistance data to examine these relationships. Mixed effects modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that both direct victimization and witnessed violence predicted change in both dual systems constructs. However, the salience of witnessed violence for predicting sensation-seeking declined in a linear manner as participants got older. Implications are discussed.