Individual Differences in Patterns of Community Violence Exposure and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors.

Youth community violence has been linked with depressive and anxious symptoms, and aggressive behavior; however, little research has examined different combinations of emotional and behavioral adjustment among community-violence-exposed youth, or individual characteristics that may account for different patterns of emotional and behavioral adjustment in community-violence-exposed youth. This research used person-centered methods to examine how gender, temperament characteristics, and prior exposure to community violence were linked with classes of community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing adjustment among a sample of urban African American youth. Participants were 464 African American adolescents (46.7% female; mean age = 14.83, SD = .43) who reported their community violence exposure in Grade 9 and for whom reports of depressive and anxious symptoms, and aggressive behavior were available. Latent class analysis identified four classes of adolescents distinguished by their exposure to community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing behavior. The two classes with high community violence exposure were characterized by internalizing symptoms or aggressive behavior; the two classes with low community violence exposure had low internalizing symptoms with moderate aggression or had all moderate symptoms. These community violence adjustment classes were distinguished by gender, history of community violence exposure, behavioral inhibition, and fight-flight-freeze systems. Findings highlight heterogeneity in internalizing and externalizing responses of community-violence-exposed youth and suggest factors that explain community violence exposure, repeat exposure, and responses to community violence exposure.

The Role of Depressive Symptoms in Substance Use Among African American Boys Exposed to Community Violence.

Adolescents exposed to community violence (CV) are at increased risk for alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use. The disproportionate exposure to CV among African American boys heightens their susceptibility to substance use and related problems. Depressive symptoms are linked to both CV exposure and adolescent substance use; however, their role in the link between CV exposure and substance use in African American male adolescents has received little attention. The current study examined whether depressive symptoms mediate or moderate the associations between CV exposure and substance use among African American male adolescents. Participants were 225 African American adolescent boys in Baltimore, Maryland who completed measures of CV exposure and depressive symptoms in 10th grade and measures of substance use in 10th and 11th grades. Hierarchal linear regression analyses indicated that depressive symptoms moderated associations between violent victimization and alcohol and tobacco use, R2 = .21-.30, ps < .001. There was a positive association between CV victimization and alcohol and tobacco use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms but not low levels. Depressive symptoms also moderated the link between witnessing CV and alcohol use such that witnessing CV was negatively related to alcohol use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms only. The findings suggest that depressive symptoms may play an important role in differentiating alcohol and tobacco use outcomes in CV-exposed African American boys. Prevention efforts should assess for depressive symptoms to identify adolescent boys with the highest risk of substance use.

The role of negative emotional reactivity and neighborhood factors in predicting marijuana use during early adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Negative emotional reactivity and the neighborhood environment have been individually associated with marijuana use outcomes; however, less is known about whether neighborhood factors differentiate the association between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use. The present study examined whether neighborhood risk (i.e., neighborhood problems) and protective factors (i.e., neighborhood social cohesion) moderated the relation between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use during early adolescence. METHODS: Participants were 775 adolescents (M = 10.95 ± 0.88 years; 69% male; 76% Caucasian), who reported on their past month frequency of marijuana use at Time 1 (when adolescents were 10-12 years old) and Time 2 (when adolescents were 12-14 years old). Mothers reported on neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion at Time 1. Youth reported on their negative emotional reactivity at Time 2. RESULTS: Negative binomial regression analyses indicated that neighborhood problems moderated the relationship between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use. In particular, in the context of low neighborhood problems, individuals with lower negative emotional reactivity were at attenuated risk for marijuana use compared to individuals higher in negative emotional reactivity. In the context of high neighborhood problems, individuals were at heightened risk for marijuana consumption regardless of their negative emotional reactivity levels. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that individual-level factors alone do not sufficiently account for early marijuana use and that neighborhood problems play a role in risk for or abstention from using marijuana during early adolescence. Implications for prevention and intervention for marijuana use during adolescence are discussed.

Temperament Moderators of Prospective Associations Between Community Violence Exposure and Urban African American Adolescents' Aggressive Behavior.

Research suggests that neighborhood risks are associated with internalizing symptoms for adolescents high on temperament characteristics related to the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). However, it is unclear whether newer conceptualizations of the BIS distinguishing fear from anxiety operate similarly. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the BIS attenuates community violence exposure effects on externalizing problems. The current study examined whether the BIS or the fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS) moderated associations between community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems. Participants were 367 urban African American adolescents who reported on temperament characteristics in grade 9, and community violence exposure and adjustment problems in grades 9 and 10. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that the FFFS, but not the BIS, moderated the association between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior. Grade 9 community violence exposure was positively associated with grade 10 aggression for adolescents low on FFFS, suggesting that the FFFS may partly differentiate community violence-exposed adolescents' aggressive behavior.