Exposure to Community Violence and Protective and Risky Contexts Among Low Income Urban African American Adolescents: A Prospective Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Goldner ◽  
Tracy L. Peters ◽  
Maryse H. Richards ◽  
Steven Pearce
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Prospective Study ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Low Income ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
A Prospective Study

The Relationship Between Violence Exposure and Academic Achievement in African American Adolescents Is Moderated by Emotion Regulation

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinetra L. King ◽  
Sylvie Mrug
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
African American ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Low Income ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Compared with other ethnic groups, African American adolescents are exposed to higher levels of family and community violence, which contribute to poorer academic achievement. This study examines whether emotion regulation moderates the effects of exposure to family and community violence on academic achievement among low-income African American adolescents. Eighty African American adolescents ([Formula: see text] age 12.89 years, 50% male) reported on their exposure to violence. Emotion regulation was obtained from parent reports and academic achievement was assessed with grades in core academic subjects at baseline and 2 years later. Results revealed that witnessing home violence predicted poorer achievement over time, as did exposure to community violence for youth with poor emotion regulation. Thus, well-developed emotion regulation skills may protect African American adolescents from the negative effects of witnessing community violence on academic achievement.

Violence exposure, posttraumatic stress, and affect variability among African American Youth: A time sampling approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Kyle Deane ◽  
Maryse Richards ◽  
Catherine DeCarlo Santiago
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Affective State ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sampling Approach

Abstract The current study examines the immediate and short-term impact of daily exposure to community violence on same-day and next-day levels of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and various affective states (i.e., dysphoria, hostility, and anxiety), in a sample of 268 African American adolescents living in urban, low-income, high-violence neighborhoods (Mage = 11.65; 59% female). In addition, the moderating role of affective state variability on this relationship was examined. This study utilized experience sampling method and a daily sampling approach, which contributes a more robust investigation of the short-term effects of violence exposure in youth. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that community violence exposure was positively associated with same-day and next-day symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Violence exposure also exhibited an immediate effect on dysphoria, anxiety, and hostility levels. Youth variability in dysphoria exacerbated the effect of violence exposure on concurrent or next-day posttraumatic stress, dysphoria, and hostility. Moreover, variability in anxiety and hostility exacerbated the experience of next-day hostility. The clinical implications relating to these findings, such as the importance of implementing screening for posttraumatic stress following exposure, the incorporation of preventative treatments among those at risk of exposure, and the targeting of emotion regulation in treatments with adolescents, are discussed.

The Relation of Severity and Type of Community Violence Exposure to Emotional Distress and Problem Behaviors Among Urban African American Adolescents

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Goldner ◽  
Israel M. Gross ◽  
Maryse H. Richards ◽  
Brian L. Ragsdale
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Violence Exposure ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Severity level and type of exposure to community violence were examined to determine their effect on emotional distress and problem behaviors among 234 low-income urban African American early adolescents. There were 4 violence exposure scales developed from a principal component analysis of the Richters and Martinez (1993) exposure to violence scale: moderate and severe witnessing and moderate and severe victimization. Regression analyses indicated that moderate victimization was the most consistent predictor of emotional distress and behavioral problems, whereas moderate witnessing did not relate to any of the dependent variables. Severe victimization predicted depression and delinquency, whereas severe witnessing predicted posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and delinquency. Witnessing and victimization scales based on severity of exposure better represented the experience than combining all data into a single exposure or simply witnessing and victimization scales.

Exposure to Community Violence Among Low-Income African American Youth in Chicago: A Latent Class Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1116-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dexter R. Voisin ◽  
Dong Ha Kim ◽  
Lynn Michalopoulos ◽  
Sadiq Patel
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Future Orientation ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
School Bonding ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
Bisexual And Transgender

African American youth are exposed to some of the highest rates of exposure to community violence. However, few studies have explored factors related to exposures and various subtypes of exposures to community violence (i.e., no exposure, witnessing only and being a witness/victim). Among a matched sample of 129 African American youth and their caregivers, no exposure to community violence was correlated with being heterosexual versus being a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) person, having parents who owned their homes versus rented, and having higher authoritarian parenting attitudes. In addition, being a witness/victim of community violence was correlated with any youth substance use, lower levels of school bonding, having less future orientation, less parental home ownership, and an adverse family history. Practice and programmatic considerations are discussed based on these findings.

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