Developmental Ecological Measurement of Neighborhood Effects on Youth Violence

社区对青少年暴力影响的发展生态测量

• 批准号: 8122381
• 负责人: DEBORAH GORMAN-SMITH
• 金额: $ 35万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-10-01 至 2012-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8122381
• 关键词: Developmental; Ecological; Measurement; Neighborhood; Effects

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this proposed study is to develop, pilot and validate a set of theoretically and empirically implicated measures of neighborhood social processes that may be important in understanding risk and protection for youth violence. Building from a developmental-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner,1987; Tolan, Guerra and Kendall, 1995) and the theoretical and empirical literature on community and neighborhood influences on youth development and violence (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Sampson et al., 1997), measures will be developed, refined and tested that capture characteristics of neighborhoods that are likely to have direct effects on risk for youth violence, but also indirect effects through or in interaction with other important socializing systems such as family, peer and schools. We will use these measures to empirically test the extent to which these factors are associated with youth risk and protection for violence perpetration and victimization. The proposed study has five specific aims: 1) to develop and refine measures and methods of measurement of important social processes (norms, social support and connection, social control, and routine activities) that theory and prior research indicate are related to risk and protection of youth violence; 2) to validate these neighborhood level measures through evaluation of the relation of these characteristics to neighborhood level of youth violence and school performance; 3) to test the specific contribution of each construct as measured by the neighborhood informant sample to individual risk for violence victimization and perpetration and to evaluate neighborhood as moderator of family risk on child aggression and violence, school functioning, and other indicators of child social functioning; 4) to test the variation in explanatory role of each construct to risk at two distinct developmental stages - adolescence and school entry; and 5) to test the relation between community structural characteristics (e.g., poverty, mobility, economic viability) and neighborhood social processes and how variation in that relation explains youth risk for violence and family functioning and other theorized moderators of neighborhood risk for individuals. To test these aims, we plan to select 30 urban neighborhoods within Chicago. Neighborhoods will be selected to have a majority of either African American or Latino residents. Within these neighborhoods, we propose to collect data from two separate samples: 1) adolescents and adults as neighborhood informants to measure "neighborhood level" constructs with theoretical and empirical links to risk for youth violence, and 2) a separate sample of children, adolescents and their caregivers to test the extent to which neighborhood factors are associated with youth risk for violence perpetration and victimization. We include two age groups within this second sample, families with young children (ages 5-6 as they are entering school) and families with adolescents (14-18) to evaluate the developmental impact of these processes. A better understanding of these mechanisms is critical for improving existing prevention programs and for developing new interventions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This study will provide important knowledge related to the measurement of neighborhood social processes thought to be important in understanding risk and protection for youth violence. Despite the tremendous growth in number of studies focused on neighborhood, there remains relatively limited understanding of how they matter or the processes through which neighborhoods relate to risk and protection. By developing psychometrically sound and valid measures of these neighborhood social processes, and by testing the relations between these constructs and outcomes such as youth violence, delinquency, and substance use, the proposed research will improve our understanding of the developmental processes influenced by neighborhood characteristics and contribute to the development of more effective interventions for the prevention of youth violence.

描述（由申请人提供）： 这项拟议的研究的目的是开发，试点和验证一套理论和经验牵连的邻里社会过程的措施，可能是重要的，在了解风险和保护青年暴力。根据发展生态模型（Bronfenbrenner，1987年; Tolan，Guerra和Kendall，1995年）以及关于社区和邻里对青年发展和暴力影响的理论和经验文献（Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn，2000年; Sampson等人，1997年），将制定、完善和测试一些措施，这些措施既能反映可能对青年暴力风险产生直接影响的社区特点，也能反映通过家庭、同龄人和学校等其他重要社会化系统或与这些系统相互作用而产生的间接影响。我们将使用这些措施，以实证检验在何种程度上这些因素与青少年的风险和保护暴力犯罪和受害。拟议的研究有五个具体目标：1）制定和完善重要社会进程的衡量标准和方法（规范，社会支持和联系，社会控制，和日常活动），理论和先前的研究表明，与青少年暴力的风险和保护;（二）通过评估这些特征与青少年暴力和学校的邻里水平的关系来验证这些邻里水平的措施（3）通过邻里信息提供者样本来检验每个结构对暴力受害和犯罪的个人风险的具体贡献，并评估邻里作为儿童攻击和暴力、学校功能和儿童社会功能其他指标的家庭风险的调节剂; 4）测试每个结构在两个不同的发展阶段--青春期和入学--对风险的解释作用的变化;以及5）测试社区结构特征（例如，贫困、流动性、经济可行性）和邻里社会进程，以及这种关系的变化如何解释青年遭受暴力的风险和家庭功能，以及其他理论上的个人邻里风险调节因素。为了测试这些目标，我们计划在芝加哥内选择30个城市社区。社区将被选择有大多数非裔美国人或拉丁裔居民。在这些社区内，我们建议从两个独立的样本中收集数据：1）青少年和成年人作为社区信息提供者，以测量“社区水平”结构与青少年暴力风险的理论和经验联系，以及2）儿童，青少年及其照顾者的单独样本，以测试社区因素与青少年暴力犯罪和受害风险的相关程度。我们在第二个样本中包括两个年龄组，即有幼儿的家庭（5-6岁，因为他们正在上学）和有青少年的家庭（14-18岁），以评估这些过程对发展的影响。更好地了解这些机制对于改善现有的预防方案和制定新的干预措施至关重要。 公共卫生关系： 这项研究将提供重要的知识，邻里社会过程的测量被认为是重要的理解风险和保护青年暴力。尽管关注邻里的研究数量大幅增长，但对邻里关系的重要性或邻里关系与风险和保护的关系的理解仍然相对有限。通过发展心理测量的声音和有效的措施，这些邻里的社会过程，并通过测试这些结构和结果，如青少年暴力，犯罪和物质使用之间的关系，拟议的研究将提高我们的发展过程的理解，邻里特征的影响，并有助于发展更有效的干预措施，预防青少年暴力。