Trajectories of parental harshness and exposure to community violence differentially predict externalizing and internalizing mental health problems in legal system-involved youth.

Youth with legal system involvement are especially likely to experience parental harshness (PH) and exposure to community violence (ETV), two common forms of life stress. However, most studies examine these stressors separately or collapse across them in ways that preclude examination of their co-occurrence. Consequently, it is unclear 1) how PH and ETV simultaneously fluctuate across development and 2) how these fluctuations predict future mental health problems in legal system-involved youth. We used group-based multi-trajectory modeling to estimate simultaneous trajectories of PH and ETV in 1027 legal system-involved youth and regression analyses to understand how trajectory membership predicted mental health problems three years later. Four trajectories of co-occurrence were identified (1: Low; 2: Moderate and Decreasing; 3: Moderate PH/High ETV; 4: High PH/Moderate ETV). Compared to the Low trajectory, all trajectories with PH/ETV elevations predicted violent crime and substance problems; trajectory 3 (Moderate PH/High ETV) predicted nonviolent crime and depression/anxiety symptoms; trajectory 4 (High PH/Moderate ETV) predicted depression diagnosis. These results elucidate how PH and ETV typically co-occur across adolescence for legal system-involved youth. They also reveal important commonalities and dissociations among types of mental health problems.

Trajectories of Psychopathic Traits, Anxiety, and Violence Exposure Differentially Predict Antisociality in Legal System-Involved Youth.

Psychopathic traits are associated with several forms of antisociality, including criminal offending, legal system involvement, and substance use. Some research suggests that primary (high psychopathic traits, low negative emotions) versus secondary (high psychopathic traits, high negative emotions and/or negative experiences and environments) variants confer different levels of risk for antisociality. However, research has not examined trajectories of co-occurring fluctuations in psychopathic traits, negative emotions, and negative experiences and environments or how trajectory membership relates to antisociality. We implemented group-based multi-trajectory modeling in a sample of 809 justice-involved male (n = 681) and female (n = 128) youth from the Pathways to Desistance Study to address these gaps. We identified four trajectories of co-occurring change in psychopathic traits, anxiety, and violence exposure spanning three years: Low (low levels of each factor); Moderate Psychopathic Traits, High Negative Emotions and Experiences (moderate-decreasing psychopathic traits and high-decreasing anxiety/violence exposure); Potential Primary Psychopathic Traits (elevated-decreasing psychopathic traits, moderate-decreasing anxiety, moderate-stable violence exposure); and High/Secondary Psychopathic Traits (high-stable psychopathic traits, elevated-stable anxiety, high-decreasing violence exposure). Compared to the Low trajectory, all trajectories predicted greater violent crime and substance use three and four years later. Additionally, compared to the Low trajectory, the Potential Primary Psychopathic Traits trajectory predicted more nonviolent offending three years later. Finally, the High/Secondary Psychopathic Traits trajectory showed the most persistent antisociality, predicting more nonviolent crime, higher substance dependence symptoms, and higher likelihood of arrest three and four years later. Youth with co-occurring high psychopathic traits, anxiety, and violence exposure appear most at risk for severe antisociality.

Individual and environmental correlates of childhood maltreatment and exposure to community violence: Utilizing a latent profile and a multilevel meta-analytic approach.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment (CM) and exposure to community violence (ETV) are correlated with physical/mental health and psychosocial problems. Typically, CM and ETV are examined separately, by subtypes within category, or collapsed across both into one category of adversity. Consequently, research is limited in identifying subgroups of individuals with different amounts of exposure to both CM and ETV. Accordingly, we lack sufficient understanding of the extent to which problems associated with CM and ETV vary based on the amount (i.e. dose) of exposure to both of these experiences. METHODS: We used 20 samples (28,300 individuals) to estimate person-centered profiles of CM and ETV occurrence and co-occurrence within each sample. An individual data multilevel meta-analytic framework was used to determine the average effect size across samples for different profiles and conditional probability correlations within sociodemographic, neighborhood, health, mental health, and psychosocial domains. RESULTS: The profile characterized by high levels of CM and high levels of ETV correlated with stressful life events, depression and anxiety symptoms, and general indicators of externalizing behaviors. CM predominant profiles were associated with mental health diagnoses and treatment. ETV predominant profiles associated with risk-taking/violent behavior and neighborhood-level disadvantage. However, nuance based on the dose of CM or ETV was evident. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to identify subgroups based on the amount of exposure to CM and ETV. These subgroups have differential relationships with correlates across domains. Greater delineation and description of the lived experience will allow for more precision in addressing the burden of childhood adversity.

Adolescent civic engagement: Lessons from Black Lives Matter.

In 2020, individuals of all ages engaged in demonstrations condemning police brutality and supporting the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Research that used parent reports and trends commented on in popular media suggested that adolescents under 18 had become increasingly involved in this movement. In the first large-scale quantitative survey of adolescents' exposure to BLM demonstrations, 4,970 youth (meanage = 12.88 y) across the United States highlighted that they were highly engaged, particularly with media, and experienced positive emotions when exposed to the BLM movement. In addition to reporting strong engagement and positive emotions related to BLM demonstrations, Black adolescents in particular reported higher negative emotions when engaging with different types of media and more exposure to violence during in-person BLM demonstrations. Appreciating youth civic engagement, while also providing support for processing complex experiences and feelings, is important for the health and welfare of young people and society.

Profiles of lifetime substance use are differentiated by substance of choice, affective motivations for use, and childhood maltreatment.

To develop personalized interventions and improve outcomes in substance-using populations, research is needed on the heterogeneity in substance use patterns and motivations that exists among adult substance users. This study took a person-centered approach to identify profiles of lifetime substance use and discern the psychosocial differences among them. To survey a spectrum of drug use severity, 1106 adults (43.4% women) were recruited from forensic and community samples. Participants reported on the frequency of lifetime substance use across multiple drug categories (sedatives, stimulants, marijuana, heroin, hallucinogens, misuse of prescription drugs) and alcohol use. Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct profiles of substance use that were then compared on potential risk and maintenance factors for substance use. Four profiles of lifetime substance use emerged that diverged on severity of use and degree of mono vs. polysubstance use (Recreational Marijuana Use, Heavy Multidrug Intoxication, Heavy Marijuana Use, and Heavy Opioid and Polysubstance Use). The profiles differed on affective motivations for substance use (e.g., using to cope vs. using to seek a thrill), age of use onset, drug-related functional impairment, and experiences of childhood maltreatment. Cognitive functioning did not differentiate the heavy substance use profiles. Results provide compelling initial evidence that lifetime patterns of use can be used to identify groups of substance users with distinct risk and maintenance factors. Results highlight affective motivations for substance use and maltreatment history as potential treatment targets and underscore the importance of studying polysubstance use in the context of the opioid epidemic.

Exposure to violence and nonassociative learning capability confer risk for violent behavior.

A substantial body of research demonstrates that experiences of trauma are associated with disruptions in learning processes. Specifically, research shows altered nonassociative and associative learning in individuals who report traumatic experiences. The combination of trauma and altered learning also confers risk for negative health and mental health outcomes. One subtype of trauma that receives less attention in terms of its association with learning processes is exposure to violence (ETV)-witnessing violence, hearing gunfire, and/or being the victim of violence. Preliminary evidence shows that ETV is related to disruptions in nonassociative and associative learning processes, but these studies did not use direct and objective measures of learning. Additionally, research documents a robust relationship between ETV and violent behavior, but there has been no work examining whether it is the combination of elevated levels of ETV and learning patterns that poses a risk for engagement in violent behavior. In the present study, 164 participants completed two auditory basic learning tasks, one measuring nonassociative learning (habituation) and another measuring associative learning acquisition (classical conditioning), while skin conductance was recorded. Results indicate that individuals with higher ETV display a decreased likelihood of physiological habituation, but ETV is unrelated to associative learning acquisition. Further, the combination of higher ETV and nonhabituation predicts a greater number of violent crimes. These findings suggest that, for those with higher ETV, variations in capability for nonassociative learning may confer risk for violent behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Exposure to violence affects the development of moral impressions and trust behavior in incarcerated males.

Individuals exposed to community violence are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior, resulting in a dramatic increase in contact with justice and social service systems. Theoretical accounts suggest that disruptions in learning underlie the link between exposure to violence and maladaptive behaviors. However, empirical evidence specifying these processes is sparse. Here, in a sample of incarcerated males, we investigated how exposure to violence affects the ability to learn about the harmfulness of others and use this information to adaptively modulate trust behavior. Exposure to violence does not impact the ability to accurately develop beliefs about agents' harm preferences and predict their choices. However, exposure to violence disrupts the ability to form moral impressions that dissociate between agents with distinguishable harm preferences, and subsequently, the ability to adjust trust behavior towards different agents. These findings reveal a process that may explain the association between exposure to violence and maladaptive behavior.