RISK RESILIENCE AND DISORDER: AFRICAN AMERICANS TRANSITIONING TO ADULTHOOD

描述（由申请人提供）：该申请寻求为期5年的持续资助，用于对大约710名非裔美国儿童及其家庭的研究。到目前为止，我们的研究已经记录了生态环境（如家庭过程、同伴影响和社区环境）与种族社会化和歧视相结合的方式，这些因素是目标儿童抑郁和反社会行为的风险因素。参与研究的孩子现在是18-20岁，未来几年可能是我们项目最关键的时期。这是居住流动、完成教育、结婚、失业的高峰期。这些角色转换代表了重要的不连续性，可以作为人们生活中的转折点。对一些人来说，这些转变提供了摆脱童年危险因素和改善心理健康的机会。对其他人来说，关于这些转变的失败和挫折可能导致内部化和外部化问题的升级。我们建议再收集两波数据，以调查与三个问题有关的假设。首先，我们将评估有关生态环境与个人特征和图式结合影响成人角色转变的方式的预测。我们的重点将集中在五个角色转换上：结婚/同居，找到满意的工作，追求更高的教育，参军，入狱。其次，我们将检验关于这些角色转换减轻或放大抑郁症状和反社会行为的机制的假设。最后，我们将检验非裔美国人反社会行为发生率高但抑郁发生率低于预期的解释。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks 5 years of continued funding for a study of approximately 710 African American children and their families. Our research to date has documented the ways in which ecological contexts such as family processes, peer influences, and community context combine with racial socialization and discrimination to serve as risk factors for depression and antisocial behavior among the target children. The children in the study are now 18-20 years of age and the next few years might be viewed as the most crucial period for our project. This is the peek age period for residential mobility, completing education, marriage, and unemployment. These role transitions represent important discontinuities that can serve as turning points in people's lives. For some, these transitions provide an opportunity to escape childhood risk factors and achieve improved mental health. For others, failure and frustration regarding these transitions may lead to an escalation of internalizing and externalizing problems. We propose to collect two more waves of data in order to investigate hypotheses pertaining to three issues. First, we will evaluate predictions regarding the manner in which ecological contexts combine with personal traits and schemas to influence adult role transitions. Most of our focus will be upon five role transitions: getting married/cohabitating, obtaining satisfactory employment, pursuing higher education, joining the military, and being incarcerated. Second, we will test hypotheses concerning the mechanisms whereby these role transitions reduce or amplify symptoms of depression and antisocial behavior. Finally, we will test explanations for the high incidence of antisocial behavior but lower than expected rates of depression seen among African Americans. This project should provide valuable information regarding the manner in which adult role transitions influence the incidence of antisocial behavior and depression. We have used past project findings to formulate preventative interventions. We hope that that the results obtained from this stage of the project will also serve this purpose.