Context Matters: Links Between Neighborhood Discrimination, Neighborhood Cohesion and African American Adolescents’ Adjustment

Abstract

Racial discrimination has serious negative consequences for the adjustment of African American adolescents. Taking an ecological approach, this study examined the linkages between perceived racial discrimination within and outside of the neighborhood and urban adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and tested whether neighborhood cohesion operated as a protective factor. Data came from 461 African American adolescents (mean age = 15.24 years, SD = 1.56; 50% female) participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Multilevel models revealed that perceived discrimination within youth’s neighborhoods was positively related to externalizing, and discrimination both within and outside of youth’s neighborhoods predicted greater internalizing problems. Neighborhood cohesion moderated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. Specifically, high neighborhood cohesion attenuated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. The discussion centers on the implications of proximal stressors and neighborhood cohesion for African American adolescents’ adjustment.

Effect of Environmental Risk and Externalizing Comorbidity on Internalizing Problems Among Economically Disadvantaged African American Youth

“…Consistent with previous evidence (Nyborg & Curry, 2003; Riina et al, 2013), exposure to racial discrimination predicted higher externalizing problems. Adding externalizing problems into the current model reduced the regression coefficient of racial discrimination such that it was no longer significant.…”

The Influence of General Discrimination and Social Context on Young Urban Expecting Couples’ Mental Health

“…This observation raises questions about how connections to others in the community may help to lessen the stress experienced but not impact depression. This finding underscores the challenges observed in the literature on neighborhood cohesion where some studies observe a link to measures of mental health while others do not (De Silva et al, 2005; Riina et al, 2013). There are also questions about the unique representation of this construct for communities of color where strong emotional ties have helped to sustain them in the face of adversity and, in this context, color the relationship (Lewin et al, 2011).…”

“…It should be noted that negative experiences of social context (discrimination and neighborhood problems) negatively influenced depression and stress across race. This finding suggests that the reach of discrimination and neighborhood problems extends to all who are impacted by them and can lead to deficits in their mental health (Riina et al, 2013). …”

“…For example, greater access to social and health services may be a product of living in a neighborhood where there is trust in established and even under established social relationships (Mulvaney-Day et al, 2007). The relationship between neighborhood cohesion, depression, and stress has been observed in some community samples (De Silva, McKenzie, Harpham, & Huttly, 2005; Riina, Martin, Gardner, & Brooks-Gunn, 2013). One study found that a positive association between ongoing experiences with discrimination and depression were reduced among young African American mothers residing in cohesive neighborhoods (Lewin et al, 2011).…”

Parent-to-child physical aggression, neighborhood cohesion, and development of children's internalizing and externalizing

“…Responses were averaged (α = .75), such that higher scores indicated greater neighborhood cohesion. This measure has been shown to be associated with better mental health among 5-11-year-olds (Xue, Leventhal, Brooks-Gunn, & Earls, 2005), and protective against elevated externalizing problems for African American youth who experience racial discrimination (Riina, Martin, Gardner, & Brooks-Gunn, 2013).…”