Witnessing Community Violence and its Consequences: Changes Across Middle School

项目总结 在贫困和暴力发生率高的城市社区长大的青少年经历了很高的 社区暴力发生率。少数族裔青年更有可能居住在高犯罪率的社区 贫穷和暴力，因此报告的曝光率比他们的白人同龄人更高。早些时候 青少年特别容易受到社区暴力后果的影响，因为他们越来越多地 容易受到环境、生物、认知和情绪过程的影响，这些过程会增加他们患上心脏病的风险 精神变态学。目睹社区暴力与内化和 外化症状。然而，目击社区暴力和 内化症状一直是不一致的，理论提供了相互矛盾的预测。在……方面有差距 我们对目睹社区暴力对青少年发展的影响的理解，这可能 反映了先前研究的局限性。拟议研究的目标是通过确定 在青春期早期目睹社区暴力的轨迹，调查 亚组的轨迹不同，并决定了目击暴力的轨迹在多大程度上 与身体攻击和痛苦症状的变化有关。这一目标与NICHD的研究一致 优先了解儿童和青春期不良经历对发展的影响 并确定干预可能产生最佳效果的时期。这些目标将通过以下途径实现 分析一个独特且丰富的数据集，其中包含每三个月收集一次的12波数据 从以非洲裔美国人为主的2755名早期青少年中抽取了三个年级的学生 在暴力发生率较高的城市社区。潜伏期曲线模型、混合生长模型和潜伏期 将使用配置文件分析来检查人员内部随时间的变化以及组间的差异 个人内部的变化。具体目标是：1)确定亲身见证社区的变化 青春期早期的暴力，2)调查目睹社区暴力之间的纵向关系 身体上的攻击性和痛苦。每个目标的性别差异都将被考察。理论的提炼 与长期接触有关的信息可为促进积极青年的干预和预防工作提供信息 发展。随着时间的推移识别具有不同模式的子组可用于定制干预， 并可能突出干预可能最有效的时期。此外，研究和培训 在这份NRSA F31博士前奖学金申请中概述的内容将使我具备所需的技能和支持 通过向我提供相关知识来追求作为一名独立研究科学家的成功职业生涯 理论模型及其在预防工作中的应用，高级统计方法能力 纵向研究，以及科学写作、拨款撰写和演示技巧。

PROJECT SUMMARY Adolescents growing up in urban neighborhoods with high rates of poverty and violence experience high rates of community violence. Minority youth are more likely to reside in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty and violence and consequently report higher rates of exposure than their White peers. Early adolescents are particularly vulnerable to consequences of community violence because they are increasingly susceptible to environmental, biological, cognitive, and emotional processes that increase their risk of psychopathology. Witnessing community violence has been associated with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, findings of relations between witnessing community violence and internalizing symptoms have been inconsistent, and theories offer contradictory predictions. There is a gap in our understanding of the effects of witnessing community violence on adolescent development, which may reflect limitations of prior studies. The goal of the proposed study is to address those limitations by identifying trajectories of witnessing community violence across early adolescence, investigating the extent to which subgroups differ in their trajectories, and determining the extent to which trajectories of witnessing violence are related to changes in physical aggression and distress symptoms. This goal aligns with NICHD's research priority of understanding the impact of adverse experiences during childhood and adolescence on development and identifying periods where intervention could have optimal effects. These aims will be addressed through analysis of a unique and rich dataset with 12 waves of data that were collected every three months across all three grades of middle school from a predominantly African American sample of 2,755 early adolescents living in urban communities with high rates of violence. Latent curve models, growth mixture modeling, and latent profile analysis will be used to examine within-person changes over time and between-group differences in within-person change. The specific aims are to: 1) identify within-person changes in witnessing community violence during early adolescence, 2) investigate longitudinal relations between witnessing community violence and physical aggression and distress. Sex differences will be examined for each aim. Refinement of theories related to chronic exposure could inform intervention and prevention efforts to promote positive youth development. Identification of subgroups with different patterns over time could be used to tailor interventions, and could highlight periods where interventions might be most effective. Moreover, the research and training outlined in this NRSA F31 pre-doctoral fellowship application will equip me with the skills and support needed to pursue a successful career as an independent research scientist by providing me with knowledge of relevant theoretical models and their application to prevention efforts, competencies in advanced statistical methods for longitudinal research, and scientific writing, grant-writing, and presentation skills.