More than 5,000 households were screened using a random digit dialing system. An adult respondent was asked four questions in order to identify victims of crime and nonvictims within the household. The study sample of 557 households represented the appropriate ratio of American households that could be expected to experience a violent crime within a year (6 percent), that may be victimized by a property crime (24 percent), or would experience no crime (70 percent). A depression scale developed at the National Institute of Mental Health was used to measure mental health factors. The study, which controlled for sex, race and education factors, analyzed the differences in depression levels for those living in victimized households versus those in nonvictimized households. Fear of crime was measured by asking questions about feelings of safety when walking alone, how fear of crime prevents certain activities, and how often residents think about being robbed or assaulted. Findings indicate that households which experience violent crimes and multiple victimizations showed higher levels of depressive symptoms and increased fear of crime.