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Adaptive Coping Reduces the Impact of Community Violence Exposure on Violent Behavior among African American and Latino Male Adolescents

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Abstract

This study examined whether coping moderated the impact of community violence exposure (CVE) on violent behavior among 285 urban African American and Latino adolescent males assessed annually across 5 years. Composites indicating overall CVE (having knowledge of others’ victimization, witnessing violence, direct victimization) and approach to coping with CVE were created by averaging across years 1–3 (Time 1; mean ages 14–16). Adolescents classified as coping effectively tended to respond to CVE in beneficial ways (e.g., developing long-term solutions, engaging in positive reappraisal). Violent behavior was examined across years 1–3 (Time 1) and years 4–5 (Time 2; mean ages 18–19). CVE was longitudinally associated with greater violent behavior, adjusting for Time 1 levels of violent behavior. This association was significant only among adolescents with less effective coping strategies. Interventions targeting the enhancement of coping skills may be an effective method of reducing the impact of CVE on adolescent violent behavior.

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Acknowledgement

This research was funded by support from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 48248), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HS35415), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R49/CCR512739). Dr. Brady’s preparation of this manuscript was supported by the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (T32 MH019391) while she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. We would like to acknowledge Michael Schoeny, Ph.D., for his early feedback on this research. We would also like to acknowledge the communities, schools, and families that aided this work through their participation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Health Psychology Program, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St., Ste. 465, P.O. Box 0848, San Francisco, CA, 94118-0848, USA

    Sonya S. Brady

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Deborah Gorman-Smith, David B. Henry & Patrick H. Tolan

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  1. Sonya S. Brady
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  2. Deborah Gorman-Smith
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Correspondence to Sonya S. Brady.

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Sonya S. Brady is now an Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota (1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015, USA; Tel.: +1-612-6241818; Fax: +1-612-6240315.

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Brady, S.S., Gorman-Smith, D., Henry, D.B. et al. Adaptive Coping Reduces the Impact of Community Violence Exposure on Violent Behavior among African American and Latino Male Adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 105–115 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9164-x

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