Family and community factors that predict internalizing and externalizing symptoms in low-income, African-American children: a preliminary report

• Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 1008; no. 1; pp. 55 - 68
• Main Authors: Kaslow, Nadine J, Heron, Sheryl, Roberts, Debra Kim, Thompson, Martie, Guessous, Omar, Jones, Claudia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2003
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; African Americans - psychology; Child; Child Behavior - physiology; Child, Preschool; Depression - psychology; Family - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Residence Characteristics; Social Environment; Socioeconomic Factors; Spouse Abuse; Surveys and Questionnaires; Violence - psychology
• ISSN: 0077-8923; 1749-6632
• DOI: 10.1196/annals.1301.007

To learn more about the roots of internalizing and externalizing problems in low-income, African-American children, aged 8-12 years, particularly for family and community factors, we aimed to determine which variables (mother's psychological functioning, mother's intimate partner violence status [IPV], family cohesion and adaptability, neighborhood disorder) uniquely predicted a child's internalizing distress and externalizing distress, and the amount of variance explained by the model. Results from the regression model predicting internalizing distress indicates that the five predictor variables accounted for 38% of the variance. Two of the five predictors were significantly related to child's internalizing distress scores: mother's intimate partner violence status and maternal psychological distress. Results from the regression model predicting externalizing distress indicates that the five predictor variables accounted for 8% of the variance. The two predictors significantly related to child's externalizing distress scores were levels of family cohesion and maternal psychological distress. Directions for future research and clinical implications are provided.