000 02420 am a22002053u 4500
042 _adc
100 1 0 _aDiClemente, Cara M.
_eauthor
_9630
700 1 0 _aRichards, Maryse
_eauthor
_9631
245 0 0 _aCommunity Violence in Early Adolescence: Assessing Coping Strategies for Reducing Delinquency and Aggression
260 _c2022.
500 _a/pmc/articles/PMC7089820/
500 _a/pubmed/31549863
520 _aOBJECTIVE. Exposure to community violence has disabling effects on the mental health of youth in the US, especially for African American adolescents from underserved, urban communities, fostering increased externalizing problems. The current study assessed the utility of problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping strategies for reducing aggression and delinquency amidst this uncontrollable stress. It was hypothesized that greater use of avoidant strategies would most consistently reduce externalizing behaviors over time, with these effects being stronger for boys than girls. METHOD. Following confirmatory factor analyses, longitudinal moderated moderation analyses were conducted with a sample of 263 Black students from low-income, urban areas (60% female, M=11.65 years), who completed surveys in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. RESULTS. For sixth grade boys who witnessed violence, using more problem-focused strategies increased delinquency in eighth grade, whereas less use of problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping increased eighth grade delinquency for girls with both indirect and direct violence exposure. Girls showed a similar pattern for aggression in seventh and eighth grade. Problem-focused coping was endorsed most frequently overall by boys and girls. Violence exposure was associated with greater use of avoidant strategies in sixth grade. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that using fewer coping strategies was detrimental for girls, while boys may require more resources to support their coping efforts. This research enhances understanding of how boys and girls adaptively cope with community violence differently, while addressing concerns with conceptualizing categories of coping to inform clinicians in these communities.
540 _a
546 _aen
690 _aArticle
655 7 _aText
_2local
786 0 _nJ Clin Child Adolesc Psychol
856 4 1 _uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2019.1650365
_zConnect to this object online.
999 _c1280
_d1280