Violence Exposure and Teen Mothers: A Multiethnic Study

说明(申请人提供)：儿童和青少年中的暴力暴露是一个公认的问题，但通常被概念化为在人际或社区一级直接经历或目睹的虐待。在有色人种社区，这一定义是不够的，因为它没有考虑到外来暴力接触的多种其他来源。拟议的研究将审查暴力暴露可能对有色人种年轻母亲及其子女产生不利影响的过程和媒介，并记录特定心理资源的缓冲或缓和效果。在一个理论模型的基础上，暴力的定义跨越了一个连续体，包括人际、社区和背景(种族主义、文化适应压力和邻里剥夺)。兴趣的影响包括测量母亲的心理痛苦、养育子女和孩子的行为。评估心理资源(族裔认同和适应性应对)在缓冲暴力影响方面的作用。 将从为有色人种年轻母亲提供综合服务的临床和社区站点招募400名母亲(200名非洲裔美国人，200名拉丁裔)的分层样本。这些被招募的人将在十几岁时生育，年龄在18-22岁之间，注册时有3-5岁的孩子。将实施特殊的招生程序，以确保一系列社区特色的招生。在为期6个月的非正式重点小组会议之后，将使用适合这些人群的经过充分验证和标准化的措施对参与者进行评估，以便根据需要通知仪器修改情况。一次性评估将通过电话和家访进行。研究假设的统计评估将包括使用分层建模程序。 具体目标将描述：1)暴力暴露于母亲痛苦和育儿之间的联系；2)心理资源与母亲痛苦和育儿(缓冲)之间的联系；3)母亲暴力暴露和心理资源与儿童行为之间的联系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Violence exposure among children and adolescents is a well-recognized problem, but is usually conceptualized as either directly experienced or witnessed maltreatment occurring at the interpersonal or community level. In communities of color this definition is inadequate because it does not take account of the multiple other sources of exogenous violence exposure. The proposed study will examine the processes and mediators by which violence exposure may adversely affect young mothers of color and their children, as well as documenting the buffering or moderating effects of specific psychological resources. Based on a theoretical model, violence is defined across a continuum including interpersonal, community, and contextual (racism, acculturative stress, and neighborhood deprivation). Effects of interest include measures of maternal psychological distress, parenting, and child behavior. Psychological resources (ethnic identity and adaptive coping) are evaluated for their role in buffering the effects of violence. A stratified sample of 400 mothers (200 African-American, 200 Latina) will be recruited from clinical and community sites providing general services to young mothers of color. Those recruited will have given birth while teens and will be 18-22 years old with children 3-5 years old at enrollment. Special recruitment procedures will be implemented to assure enrollment across a range of neighborhood characteristics. Participants will be assessed using well-validated and standardized measures appropriate in these populations, following 6 months of informal focus groups to inform instrument modification as needed. One-time assessments will take place both by telephone and home visit. Statistical evaluation of study hypotheses will include use of hierarchical modeling procedures. Specific aims will describe: 1) the association of violence exposure to maternal distress and parenting; 2) the association of psychological resources to maternal distress and parenting (buffering); and 3) the association of maternal violence exposure and psychological resources to child behavior.