Socioemotional adjustment as a mediator of the association between exposure to community violence and academic performance in low-income adolescents.

Abstract

Objective This study examines whether exposure to community violence is indirectly related to academic performance through anxious/depressed symptoms and delinquent behaviors. Methods Three hundred eighteen mothers and adolescents who participated in a longitudinal investigation were interviewed when adolescents were age 10, 14, and 16. Results Community violence exposure at age 14 was significantly related to anxious/depressed symptoms and delinquent behaviors. Delinquent behaviors (but not anxious/depressed symptoms) were significantly associated with academic performance at age 16. Exposure to community violence was indirectly related to academic performance through delinquent behaviors. There was no significant indirect effect of exposure to community violence on academic performance through anxious/depressed symptoms. Covariates included sociodemographics and exposure to child abuse. Age 10 anxious/depressed symptoms, age 10 delinquent behaviors, and age 14 academic performance were also included in the model to control for preexisting differences in socioemotional adjustment and academic performance. Conclusions Results suggest that exposure to community violence may initiate a cascade of problems that spread from behavior problems to declines in academic performance. Our results highlight the need for schools to consider exposure to community violence as one form of trauma and to transform in ways that make them more trauma-sensitive. The use of trauma-sensitive practices that address the effects of violence exposure on youth may help limit the progression of adverse effects from delinquent behavior to other domains of functioning.

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

“…Greater CVE and higher parent‐adolescent conflict were associated with more limitations of activity. Perhaps more violence within the family and the community was associated with less monitoring of adolescent behavior . In addition, higher CVE was associated with more psychosocial disorders and higher parent‐adolescent conflict was associated with more acute minor disorders.…”

“…Perhaps more violence within the family and the community was associated with less monitoring of adolescent behavior. 56 In addition, higher CVE was associated with more psychosocial disorders and higher parent-adolescent conflict was associated with more acute minor disorders. Also, while none of T A B L E 4 Multivariate regression models for community violence, school violence, parent-adolescent conflict, PTSS, positive coping, negative coping, and health outcomes (shown with β statistic, the standardized regression coefficient) the violence exposure measures were associated with any of the satisfaction outcomes, experiencing more PTSS symptoms was associated with lower levels of satisfaction with health, indicating that the response to trauma may be more important than the trauma itself.…”

Introductory Chapter: Writing about Health and Academic Achievement

“…Other elements that represent challenges for the student population are the academic demands coupled with work overload, as well as economic issues and health concerns, which generate a state of stress and trigger depressive and anxiety symptoms and to a lesser extent, situations of school and family abuse and mistreatment mainly in medical students [50][51][52][53][54]. Similar to the above, exposure to violence in the community negatively impacts effective learning and increases acts of delinquency in young people [55].…”

First Semester Academic Functioning of College Students: The Role of Stressful and Traumatic Life Events

“…Similarly, in a study that examined the relationship between trauma exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and drop-out rates, those with trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms dropped out at a rate of 35%, while those with trauma exposure and no PTSD symptoms dropped out at a rate of 20% (Boyraz, Granda, Baker, Tidwell, & Waits, 2015;Boyraz, Horne, Owens, & Armstrong, 2013). Syndromal distress after trauma, though, does not seem to be necessary to increase dropout rates, as dropout rates increase in the absence of self-reported distress or mental health disorders, including PTSD (Duncan, 2000;Hardaway, Larkby, & Cornelius, 2014).…”