Violence exposure, conflict, and health outcomes in inner‐city African American adolescents

Abstract

Purpose To examine relationships among community and school violence exposure, parent‐adolescent conflict, coping style, and self‐reported health in a sample of 432 high‐risk, inner‐city African American adolescents at age 14 years. Design and methods Multiple regression and principal component analysis were used to analyze the secondary data. After controlling for multiple covariates (eg, sex, age, blood lead levels, and socioeconomic status), both violence exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) were related to health outcomes. The survey of exposure to community violence, the safe‐school survey, and the conflict tactics scale were used to measure community violence, school violence, and parent‐adolescent conflict. Coping was evaluated using the general coping scale. The child health illness profile‐adolescent edition was used to obtain self‐reported health measures, and the clinician‐assisted PTSD scale was used to measure PTSS. Results Higher exposure to community violence was associated with less emotional comfort, less family involvement, higher individual risk, and poorer academic and work performance. Parent‐adolescent conflict predicted less physical and emotional comfort and poorer home safety and health. Conclusions Our findings suggest that it is important to evaluate both violence exposure and the responses to the exposure, which can include both PTSS and diverse coping strategies.

DNA methylation and exposure to violence among African American young adult males

“…For many African Americans (AA), experiencing violence, discrimination, and environmentally induced stressors, such as childhood neglect or abuse, are well documented ( Jacobs et al., 2014 ; Pew Research Center, 2016 ). AAs carry a disproportionate burden of incidence, morbidity, and mortality from chronic diseases such as hypertension and obesity ( Allport et al., 2019 ; Barengolts et al., 2019 ; Yang et al., 2019 ; Li et al., 2019 ; Faucher et al., 2019 ; Assari et al., 2019 ; Nagy et al., 2020 ; Goode et al., 2017 ; Go et al., 2014 ) in addition to exposure to violence (ETV) which has also been shown to have a negative impact on health ( Griggs et al., 2019 ; Goldmann et al., 2011 ; Woodson et al., 2010 ; Paranjape and Kaslow, 2010 ; Mitchell et al., 2010 ; Paranjape et al., 2009 ; McGee et al., 2001 ; Moffitt and Klaus-Grawe Think, 2013 ; Olofsson et al., 2012 ). Therefore, it is worthwhile to examine if lifetime exposure to violence is a contributing factor in AA health disparity.…”

A Influência Da Espiritualidade No Tratamento Da Pessoa Com Dependência Química

“…Em torno de 50% não tinha tido contato com os pais nos últimos doze meses. Em relação aos jovens que relataram contato com seus pais ou responsáveis nesse período, a ausência de resolução de conflitos por meio da argumentação aponta para um prejuízo no desenvolvimento social, na medida em que há replicação dessas práticas parentais inadequadas frente às interações sociais com os pares (CRUZ et al, 2016;GRIGGS et al, 2019;KOCH, et al, 2020).…”

Coping socialization in Black families: A latent profile analysis.

“…The engagement versus disengagement coping model (Connor-Smith et al, 2000) has been used to assess how Black youth respond to stressful life experiences (Cory et al, 2020; Finkelstein et al, 2007; Gaylord-Harden et al, 2013; Griggs et al, 2019; Mendelson et al, 2010). Although many broadband coping models such as the engagement versus disengagement model view coping strategies as conceptually distinct or antithetical, this perspective does not reflect coping behavior as it is observed in the real world and may not provide relevant information to guide interventions (Coyne & Racioppo, 2000; Lewis & Frydenberg, 2002).…”