The acute effects of community violence on young children's regulatory, behavioral, and developmental outcomes in a low‐income urban sample in Brazil

Abstract

BackgroundExisting research on the impacts of adversity on young children's psychological well‐being has largely focused on household‐level risk factors using observational methods in high‐income countries. This study leverages natural variation in the timing and location of community homicides to estimate their acute effects on the regulatory, behavioral, and developmental outcomes of Brazilian 3‐year‐olds.MethodsWe compared the outcomes of children who were assessed soon after a recent neighborhood homicide to those of children from the same residential neighborhoods who had not recently experienced community violence. Our sample included 3,241 3‐year‐olds (Mage = 41.05 months; 53% female; 45% caregiver education less than middle school; 26% receiving a public assistance program) from seven neighborhoods in São Paulo, Brazil. Child outcome measures included parent reports of effortful control and behavior problems as well as direct assessments of children's developmental (cognitive, language, and motor) skills. Community homicides were measured using police records.ResultsRecent exposure to community homicides was associated with lower effortful control, higher behavior problems, and lower overall developmental performance for children (d = .05–.20 standard deviations; p = ns – <.001). Effects were consistent across subgroups based on sociodemographic characteristics and environmental supports, but generally largest when community violence exposure was geographically proximal (within 600 m of home) and recent (within 2 weeks prior to assessment).ConclusionsResults highlight the pervasive effects that community violence can have on young children as well as the need to expand support to mitigate these effects and prevent inequities early in life.

Multilayer network associations between the exposome and childhood brain development

“…The finding that neighborhood violence shows a specific association with limbic structure is consistent with the hypothesis that threats have a specific influence on limbic areas of the brain (De Brito et al, 2013; Edmiston, 2011; Hanson et al, 2010; McLaughlin et al, 2014). Neighborhood violence has been repeatedly linked to children’s cognition and behavior, even in young children (McCoy et al, 2023; Sharkey, 2010). For example, a study in Brazil showed that recent neighborhood violence was associated with reduced performance on cognitive tests in 3-year-old children (McCoy et al, 2023).…”

“…Neighborhood violence has been repeatedly linked to children’s cognition and behavior, even in young children (McCoy et al, 2023; Sharkey, 2010). For example, a study in Brazil showed that recent neighborhood violence was associated with reduced performance on cognitive tests in 3-year-old children (McCoy et al, 2023). Other work using a geocoded measure of murder found that neighborhood murder was associated with inflammatory activity, but only in children with low resting-state functional connectivity of the salience or central executive network, suggesting that children differ in their sensitivity to neighborhood crime (Miller et al, 2021).…”

Community violence and early childhood language development: The moderating role of maternal efficacy and satisfaction

“…However, early childhood development is also influenced by contextual elements as children develop through a series of interactions with their different social environments, such as their families, neighborhoods, and schools (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007;McCoy, 2013). Because of this, young children are also sensitive to changes and disruptions in these environments (McCoy, 2013;McCoy et al, 2023), including the neighborhoods and communities where they live (Cuartas et al, 2018;Minh et al, 2017). Thus, studying the effect of community violence during early childhood is particularly relevant given key developmental milestones that are acquired during this period, being language acquisition one of the most important.…”

“…Prior research has found that community violence negatively correlates with young children's cognitive and behavioral outcomes (Farver et al, 2005;Osofsky, 1999;Walker et al, 2011), but research on early childhood is limited, rarely isolates causal effects, and relies on small samples and self-reported measures. Moreover, this work has tended to focus on violence within the home paying less attention to violence in the neighborhoods and communities where young children reside (McCoy et al, 2023;Osofsky, 1999). The little work that has provided plausible causal evidence of the effect of community violence on early childhood development has found negative effects, but it has focused on the United States (Sharkey et al, 2012) or on lowand middle-income countries in which violence is high or extreme (McCoy et al, 2023;Walker et al, 2011).…”

“…Moreover, this work has tended to focus on violence within the home paying less attention to violence in the neighborhoods and communities where young children reside (McCoy et al, 2023;Osofsky, 1999). The little work that has provided plausible causal evidence of the effect of community violence on early childhood development has found negative effects, but it has focused on the United States (Sharkey et al, 2012) or on lowand middle-income countries in which violence is high or extreme (McCoy et al, 2023;Walker et al, 2011). Thus, it ignores that in many low-and middle-income countries such as Chile-the setting of this studychildren live in communities where violence is salient but comparatively low.…”