Violence Exposure and Teen Mothers: A Multiethnic Study

描述（由申请人提供）：儿童和青少年中的暴力暴露是一个公认的问题，但通常被概念化为直接经历或目睹发生在人际或社区层面的虐待。在有色人种群体中，这个定义是不充分的，因为它没有考虑到外源性暴力暴露的多种其他来源。拟议的研究将检查暴力暴露可能对有色人种的年轻母亲及其子女产生不利影响的过程和中介，并记录特定心理资源的缓冲或调节作用。基于一个理论模型，暴力被定义为一个连续体，包括人际关系、社区和环境（种族主义、异文化压力和邻里剥夺）。兴趣的影响包括对母亲心理困扰、养育和儿童行为的测量。对心理资源（种族认同和适应性应对）在缓冲暴力影响方面的作用进行了评估。

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.