Family and Community Factors that Predict Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Low‐Income, African‐American Children

Abstract

To learn more about the roots of internalizing and externalizing problems in low-income, African-American children, aged 8-12 years, particularly for family and community factors, we aimed to determine which variables (mother's psychological functioning, mother's intimate partner violence status [IPV], family cohesion and adaptability, neighborhood disorder) uniquely predicted a child's internalizing distress and externalizing distress, and the amount of variance explained by the model. Results from the regression model predicting internalizing distress indicates that the five predictor variables accounted for 38% of the variance. Two of the five predictors were significantly related to child's internalizing distress scores: mother's intimate partner violence status and maternal psychological distress. Results from the regression model predicting externalizing distress indicates that the five predictor variables accounted for 8% of the variance. The two predictors significantly related to child's externalizing distress scores were levels of family cohesion and maternal psychological distress. Directions for future research and clinical implications are provided.

Community Adversity and Children’s Mental Health: Moderating Effects of Caregiver Service Utilization and Race on Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

“…The research literature suggests that risk exposures such as community violence can be attributed to childhood internalizing and externalizing problems (Aneshensel and Sucoff 1996;Brooks-Gunn et al 1993;Cooley-Quille et al 2001;Lambert et al 2012;Miller and Bank, 2013;Mrug and Windle 2010). In addition, exposure to poverty and minimal access to healthcare and social support-all of which compose a larger system of the level of a community's social capital such as asset building, nurturing and socializing support networks, enabling resources and stabilizing mechanisms may also contribute to poor outcomes (Chow et al 2003;Ellen et al 2001;Gapen et al 2011;Kaslow et al 2003).…”

The mediating role of social support in the community environment—psychological distress link among low‐income African American women

“…and screening procedures of the larger study, please see the following articles (Kaslow et al, 2004;Mitchell et al, 2006;Owen, Thompson, & Kaslow, 2006).…”

Risk and Protective Factors for Psychological Adjustment Among Low-Income, African American Children

“…In the past, risk and protective research often exclusively compared across socioeconomic and ethnic groups, emphasizing deficits among minority groups and limiting our knowledge about psychological development within a particular demographic group (Smokowski, Mann, Reynolds, & Fraser, 2004). Recently researchers have attempted to understand the heterogeneity of outcomes among low-income, African American children by illuminating some of the unique risk and protective factors for the development of psychological problems in this population (Kaslow et al, 2003;Krishnakumar & Black, 2002). Gaps in knowledge remain, especially regarding the cumulative effects of multiple risk and protective factors on the development of internalizing and externalizing problems in low-income, African American youth.…”