Latino/a adolescents facing neighborhood dangers: An examination of community violence and gender‐based harassment

Abstract

While ample research examines community violence as a serious public health problem that disproportionately affects minority adolescents, less attention focuses on adolescents' experiences of gender‐based harassment in poor, urban neighborhoods. Using data from 416 urban, low‐income Latino/a adolescents (53% female; Mage = 15.5), this study examined (a) the relations between community violence exposure (CVE), gender‐based harassment, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and (b) the role of parent–child cohesion as a moderator of the relations between CVE/harassment and PTSD symptoms. Whereas both CVE and gender‐based harassment were associated with greater PTSD symptoms, the effect of gender‐based harassment on PTSD symptoms was far greater than the effect of community violence. Additionally, the association between gender‐based harassment and PTSD symptoms was exacerbated when parent–child cohesion was high, compared to when cohesion was low or average. Finally, Latino/a adolescents exposed to high levels of both CVE and gender‐based harassment had worse PTSD symptoms compared to those exposed primarily to gender‐based harassment, who in turn had worse PTSD symptoms than those exposed primarily to community violence. Findings highlight the importance of including adolescents' experiences with gender‐based harassment when studying community violence.

Family Function and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

“…Specifically, according to outcome-oriented theories of family function (Beavers & Hampson, 2000;Olson, 2000aOlson, , 2000b, dysfunctional families tend to be either rigid or chaotic and have difficulty in obtaining the necessary resources for adapting to a crisis. This leads to more stress and problems for the long-term development of family members, which subsequently affects children's PTSD (e.g., Mora et al, 2022). The process-oriented theories of family function (Epstein et al, 1978;Skinner et al, 2000) suggest that if families are no longer able to effectively deal with dangerous events during the process of family operations, chronic dysfunction and various mental disorders (e.g., PTSD) may emerge in children and adolescents (e.g., Al-Krenawi & Graham, 2012).…”

“…Research has also assessed the relation between factors outside of the family system (e.g., social class, custom, mass media, and social welfare) and post-traumatic reactions (Bronfenbrenner, 1992;Shelton, 2018). Emphasis on these factors did not significantly relieve PTSD in some traumatized individuals (e.g., Mora et al, 2022;Peverill et al, 2021). This urges us to consider family function as a proximal and underlying family factor that affects children's and adolescents' mental health (Minuchin, 2018;Pereda & Díaz-Faes, 2020;Wedding & Corsini, 2019).…”

“…Relevant empirical studies have found that good family functions, such as family communication and cohesion, have positive effects on relieving children's PTSD when they experience a crisis or traumatic event (Acuña & Kataoka, 2017; Mora et al, 2022), whereas dysfunctional family dynamics naturally are a risk factor of PTSD in children (e.g., Deane et al, 2018; Olson, 2000a). Therefore, clarifying the role of family function in PTSD in children is an important prerequisite for developing the most effective family interventions.…”

Exposure to community violence: Toward a more expansive definition and approach to research

“…The exclusion of sexual violence from studies on youth's exposure to community violence skews and misrepresents our understanding of the prominence of community violence and its effects on racial/ethnic-minority girls from families with low incomes, whose experiences are determined by the intersection of their gender, race/ ethnicity, and SES. In a study of Latino adolescents from families with low incomes, gender-based harassment in neighborhoods was more pervasive among girls than community violence, and the effects of gender-based harassment were far greater than the effects of either personal victimization or witnessing violence on adolescents' symptoms of PTSD (Mora et al, 2021). Although girls report more frequent sexual and gender-based harassment than boys (Davidson et al, 2016), boys are also victimized by this form of violence, and it is no less important to understand this phenomenon among male children and adolescents.…”

Sexual harassment, sexual assault, violence, self‐esteem, and the role of LGBTQ‐specific parental support in a sample of Latinx sexual and gender minority youth

“…Research shows that sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth experience higher levels of victimization and sexual exploitation compared to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts (Russell et al, 2014). Specific to ethnicity, Latinx SGM youth are particularly vulnerable victimization as a result of intersectional systemic oppression due to sexual, gender, racial, and ethnic identities (Mora et al, 2022; Toomey et al, 2018; Zongrone et al, 2020). Little research to date has documented Latinx SGM youth's experiences with sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence, nor the impact that these experiences may have on the self‐esteem of these communities (e.g., Boyas et al, 2019; Zongrone et al, 2020).…”