Witnessing Community Violence and its Consequences: Changes Across Middle School

项目摘要 在贫困率和暴力发生率高的城市社区长大的青少年， 社区暴力率。少数民族青年更有可能居住在高失业率的社区。 贫穷和暴力，因此报告的接触率高于白色同龄人。早期 青少年特别容易受到社区暴力的影响，因为他们越来越多地 易受环境，生物，认知和情感过程的影响，这些过程增加了他们的风险， 精神病理学目睹社区暴力与内化和 外化症状然而，关于目睹社区暴力和 内化症状一直不一致，理论提供了相互矛盾的预测。有差距 我们对目睹社区暴力对青少年发展的影响的理解， 反映了先前研究的局限性。拟议研究的目标是通过确定 在青少年早期目睹社区暴力的轨迹，调查在多大程度上， 亚组在他们的轨迹不同，并确定在何种程度上目睹暴力的轨迹是 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 优先了解童年和青少年时期的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方式实现： 分析一个独特而丰富的数据集，其中包含12波数据，每三个月收集一次， 三个年级的中学从一个主要是非洲裔美国人的样本2,755早期青少年生活 在暴力发生率高的城市社区。潜在曲线模型、增长混合模型和潜在 将使用轮廓分析来检查随时间推移的人内变化和组间差异， 人的变化。具体目标是：1）识别见证社区中的人内变化 青少年早期暴力，2）调查目睹社区暴力之间的纵向关系 身体攻击和痛苦将对每个目标的性别差异进行检查。理论的精炼 与慢性接触有关的信息可以为促进积极青年的干预和预防工作提供信息 发展可以通过确定随着时间的推移具有不同模式的亚组来调整干预措施， 并可以突出干预可能最有效的时期。此外，研究和培训 在这个NRSA F31博士前奖学金申请概述将装备我所需的技能和支持 作为一名独立的研究科学家，通过为我提供相关知识， 理论模型及其在预防工作中的应用， 纵向研究，科学写作，赠款写作和演讲技巧。

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.