Exposure to community violence and social maladjustment among urban African American youth

• Published in: Journal of adolescence (London, England.) Vol. 37; no. 7; pp. 1161 - 1170
• Main Authors: Carey, Devin C, Richards, Maryse H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2014; Elsevier; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adjustment; Adolescence; Adolescent; African American Children; African Americans; African Americans - psychology; African-American; Biological and medical sciences; Chicago - epidemiology; Child; Children & youth; Community Relations; Community violence; Developmental psychology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Inner city; Male; Pediatrics; Psychological Tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Public schools; Residence Characteristics; Risk assessment; Risk Factors; Social Adjustment; Structural Equation Models; Surveys and Questionnaires; Transactional; Urban Areas; Urban Youth; Violence; Violence - psychology; Violence - statistics & numerical data; Chicago; United States > US; Chicago Illinois; Adolescence; Adjustment; African-American; Community violence; Transactional; Social environment; Human; Urban environment; Violence; Exposure; Ethnic group; Adolescent; African American
• ISSN: 0140-1971; 1095-9254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.07.021

Abstract Objective Because of the evidence that children living in inner city communities are chronically exposed to violence, the goal of the present study was to longitudinally explore the reciprocal and perpetuating relationship between exposure to violence and child social maladjustment. Method Participants were 268 African American students ( M age = 11.65 years, 40% males and 60% females) from six inner city Chicago public schools in high crime neighborhoods. Data was collected longitudinally over three years on measures of demographic information, exposure to community violence, and social adjustment. It was hypothesized that high levels of exposure to community violence, would be related to higher reports of social maladjustment (both cross-sectionally and longitudinally) and these variables would interact transactionally, leading to a greater risk of exposure to violence. Results These hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and results revealed that exposure to community violence was not consistently linked to social maladjustment. Transactional results revealed that there are certain periods in development in which being more socially maladjusted may put a youth in risk for more exposure to violence. Conclusions Results of the present study have important implications for interventions for inner-city youth exposed to violence.