Ethnic-Racial Socialization, Teacher Discrimination, and Black Youth's School Engagement and Achievement.

Ethnic-racial socialization is one strategy Black parents use to support their children's school engagement and academic achievement given the occurrence and toxic effects of discrimination. Egalitarianism and preparation for bias socialization messages have yielded mixed evidence of promotive and protective effects for Black youth's school outcomes, and effects may vary according to ethnicity. Thus, this research examined associations between ethnic-racial socialization messages and school engagement and achievement, and whether these messages protected against teacher discrimination effects on academic achievement transmitted through school engagement, among a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. Ethnic-racial socialization message content and the frequency of communication about race demonstrated different associations with engagement (i.e., school bonding, aspiration-expectation discrepancy, and disciplinary actions) and achievement (i.e., grades) for African American and Caribbean Black youth. However, the benefits were not sufficient to combat the adverse effects of teacher discrimination on school engagement and, in turn, achievement. These findings highlight the utility of integrating ethnic-racial socialization into prevention programs to support Black youth's school experiences; demonstrate the importance of attention to heterogeneity within Black youth; and underscore the critical need for prevention programs to address teacher discrimination.

Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion and Perceived Control.

Few have examined mechanisms explaining the link between perceived neighborhood unsafety, neighborhood social processes, and depressive symptoms for Black adolescents. The goal of this study was to examine the role of perceived control as a mechanism linking perceptions of neighborhood unsafety and depressive symptoms, and neighborhood cohesion as a protective factor. Participants were 412 Black adolescents living in a major Mid-Atlantic urban center in the United States (49% female, Mage = 15.80, SD = 0.36). Participants reported perceptions of neighborhood unsafety at grade 10, neighborhood cohesion at grade 10, perceived control at grades 10 and 11 and depressive symptoms in grades 10 and 12. High neighborhood unsafety was associated with low perceived control and in turn high depressive symptoms only when neighborhood cohesion was high. The results highlight the role of neighborhood unsafety and perceived control in the development of depressive symptom and the possible downsides of neighborhood social factors.

Intersectional discrimination from black women, white women, black men, or white men impacts young adult black women's affective states and risky health cognitions.

OBJECTIVE: Black women experience pronounced inequalities in alcohol use and sexual risk outcomes. Racial discrimination is a known contributor to health inequalities. However, Black women face unique and intersectional forms of discrimination beyond racial discrimination. The current study investigates how exclusion from four distinct social groups effects Black women's negative affect and risky health cognitions. DESIGN: Black women (N = 124; ages 18-29) were randomly assigned to be excluded in Cyberball by Black women, Black men, White women, or White men. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants responded to measures of internalising (depressive, anxious) and externalising (anger) affect, heavy alcohol use willingness, and risky sex expectations. RESULTS: Participants primarily attributed exclusion from White women to racial discrimination, exclusion from Black men to gender discrimination, and exclusion from White men to both gender and racial discrimination. When excluded by White women, participants reported the highest levels of anger, depressive affect, and anxiety. Exclusion by White men predicted the greatest heavy drinking willingness, though exclusion by Black men predicted the greatest risky sex expectations. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to demonstrate that exclusion from different social groups leads to differing patterns of negative affect and risky health cognitions in young adult Black women.

Peer Discrimination, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Latino/a Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms: A Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: U.S. Latino/a adolescents experience high levels of ethnic discrimination, particularly in new immigrant destinations. Due to the salience of peers during adolescence, this study examined how peer discrimination related directly and indirectly, through deviant peer affiliation, to changes in Latino/a adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Culture-specific moderators hypothesized to buffer discrimination impacts on adolescent symptomology included Spanish language enculturation and adolescents' social ties to relatives in the family's country-of-origin. METHOD: The sample of 547 Latino/a adolescent participants from the Caminos al Bienestar study (55.4% female; age M = 12.8, range = 11-16) was selected at random from middle schools in a large, suburban school district in Atlanta, Georgia. Three time points of survey data spaced roughly 6 months apart were collected during 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: Results from longitudinal structural equation models revealed that peer discrimination was associated indirectly with increased externalizing symptoms, through increases in affiliation with deviant peers (ß = 0.05; SE = 0.02; B = 0.02; 95% CI = 0.01, 0.09). We did not observe direct or indirect effects of peer discrimination on changes in internalizing symptoms, and we found no significant protective effects of either Spanish language enculturation or social ties with the country-of-origin. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic discrimination by peers may lead to deviant peer affiliation and, in turn, increased externalizing behaviors. Future research identifying protective factors that buffer discrimination impacts on deviant peer affiliation is needed to inform the development of interventions that can prevent Latino/a adolescents' externalizing symptoms.

COVID-19 Stressors and Latinx Adolescents' Mental Health Symptomology and School Performance: A Prospective Study.

This study addressed the need for research examining impacts of the Coronavirus-19 (COVID) pandemic on Latinx adolescents' adjustment. Survey data for a probability sample of 547 Latinx adolescents (Mage = 13.71, SD = 0.86; 55.2% female) were collected from 2018 to 2021, including two times both prior to, and during, COVID. Independent variables assessed COVID-related household hospitalization, job/income loss, and adolescents' increased childcare responsibility. Structural Equation Model results indicated that COVID-related increases in adolescent childcare responsibility were associated with increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms and declines in school performance. COVID hospitalization and job/income loss were associated indirectly, through childcare responsibilities, to worse adolescent outcomes. Family adversities may harm adolescents' adjustment by burdening adolescents with responsibilities such caring for children.

Residential mobility, neighborhood cohesion, and depressive symptoms among urban-dwelling African American adolescents.

Mechanisms linking residential mobility and depressive symptoms among urban-dwelling African American adolescents have received little attention. This study examined neighborhood cohesion as a possible mechanism. Participants were 358 urban-dwelling African American adolescents (Mage = 14.78; SD = 0.34) who reported their neighborhood cohesion in Grade 10 and depressive symptoms in Grades 9 and 11, and for whom residential address information was available. There was a significant indirect effect of past moves in middle school on depressive symptoms 1 year later through reduced neighborhood cohesion. However, the indirect effect was not significant in a propensity score-matched sample. Results from the full sample of adolescents suggest that neighborhood cohesion may play a role in the experience of depressive symptoms following past moves in middle school. Different findings for the propensity score-matched sample highlight the need for future studies of residential mobility to employ strategies to correct for possible selection bias.

Protective factors for suicidal ideation among Black adolescents indirectly exposed to community violence.

OBJECTIVE: Community violence exposure has been identified as a risk factor for Black youth suicide ideation. However, little is known about factors that protect community violence exposed youth against suicide ideation. The current study examined associations between knowledge of family member and peers' community violence exposure and Black youth's subsequent suicidal ideation, and investigated self-worth and social support as protective factors. METHOD: Participants were a community sample of Black youth (N = 447, 47.4% female; Mage = 11.77, SD = 0.35) who reported about community violence exposure, self-worth, social support, and suicide ideation in grades 6 and 7. RESULTS: Regression analyses revealed that grade 6 knowledge of family member and peers' community violence exposure was associated with increases in suicide ideation assessed in grade 7. Self-worth attenuated the association between knowledge of others' community violence exposure and suicide ideation for male adolescents. For female adolescents, social support attenuated the association between knowledge of others' community violence and suicide ideation. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the consequential impact of knowledge about community violence for Black youth's suicidal ideation. Enhancing protective factors for Black youth is an important target for intervening with exposure to violence and reducing suicide ideation.

A longitudinal test of acculturative family distancing theory explaining latino/a/x adolescents' adjustment.

According to acculturative family distancing theory, adolescents' perceptions of cultural incongruencies with parents can diminish the quality of parent-adolescent relationships and, as a result, harm adolescent adjustment. Using four time points of data for a sample of 547 diverse Latino/a/x adolescents, this study examined how parent-adolescent relationship quality and acculturative family distancing were associated with changes in adolescent school performance and internalizing symptoms. At baseline, the school-based sample ranged from 11- to 14-years-old (M = 12.78) and included slightly more females (55%) than males (45%). Cross-lagged structural equation model results indicated that adolescent reports of greater acculturative family distancing were associated with adolescent perceived increases in parent-adolescent conflict and decreases in parental support. Conflict mediated associations between acculturative family distancing and decreased school performance. Associations between parent-child relationship qualities and Latino/a/x adolescent adjustment were bidirectional.

Individual Differences in Patterns of Community Violence Exposure and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors.

Youth community violence has been linked with depressive and anxious symptoms, and aggressive behavior; however, little research has examined different combinations of emotional and behavioral adjustment among community-violence-exposed youth, or individual characteristics that may account for different patterns of emotional and behavioral adjustment in community-violence-exposed youth. This research used person-centered methods to examine how gender, temperament characteristics, and prior exposure to community violence were linked with classes of community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing adjustment among a sample of urban African American youth. Participants were 464 African American adolescents (46.7% female; mean age = 14.83, SD = .43) who reported their community violence exposure in Grade 9 and for whom reports of depressive and anxious symptoms, and aggressive behavior were available. Latent class analysis identified four classes of adolescents distinguished by their exposure to community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing behavior. The two classes with high community violence exposure were characterized by internalizing symptoms or aggressive behavior; the two classes with low community violence exposure had low internalizing symptoms with moderate aggression or had all moderate symptoms. These community violence adjustment classes were distinguished by gender, history of community violence exposure, behavioral inhibition, and fight-flight-freeze systems. Findings highlight heterogeneity in internalizing and externalizing responses of community-violence-exposed youth and suggest factors that explain community violence exposure, repeat exposure, and responses to community violence exposure.

Ethnic-racial Socialization, Perceived Neighborhood Quality, and Psychosocial Adjustment among African American and Caribbean Black Adolescents.

Ethnic-racial socialization is employed by ethnic minority parents to support their children's psychosocial adjustment. These socialization messages may be associated differently with psychosocial adjustment for Black youth according to ethnicity and qualities of the neighborhood context. This research examined whether associations between ethnic-racial socialization messages and psychosocial adjustment vary by ethnicity and perceived neighborhood quality in a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. The effects of promotion of mistrust messages varied by ethnicity, and the effects of egalitarianism messages varied depending on perceived neighborhood quality. These findings help clarify prior research which has yielded equivocal results for the effects of these messages for Black youth's psychosocial adjustment.

The Role of Depressive Symptoms in Substance Use Among African American Boys Exposed to Community Violence.

Adolescents exposed to community violence (CV) are at increased risk for alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use. The disproportionate exposure to CV among African American boys heightens their susceptibility to substance use and related problems. Depressive symptoms are linked to both CV exposure and adolescent substance use; however, their role in the link between CV exposure and substance use in African American male adolescents has received little attention. The current study examined whether depressive symptoms mediate or moderate the associations between CV exposure and substance use among African American male adolescents. Participants were 225 African American adolescent boys in Baltimore, Maryland who completed measures of CV exposure and depressive symptoms in 10th grade and measures of substance use in 10th and 11th grades. Hierarchal linear regression analyses indicated that depressive symptoms moderated associations between violent victimization and alcohol and tobacco use, R2 = .21-.30, ps < .001. There was a positive association between CV victimization and alcohol and tobacco use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms but not low levels. Depressive symptoms also moderated the link between witnessing CV and alcohol use such that witnessing CV was negatively related to alcohol use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms only. The findings suggest that depressive symptoms may play an important role in differentiating alcohol and tobacco use outcomes in CV-exposed African American boys. Prevention efforts should assess for depressive symptoms to identify adolescent boys with the highest risk of substance use.

The role of negative emotional reactivity and neighborhood factors in predicting marijuana use during early adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Negative emotional reactivity and the neighborhood environment have been individually associated with marijuana use outcomes; however, less is known about whether neighborhood factors differentiate the association between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use. The present study examined whether neighborhood risk (i.e., neighborhood problems) and protective factors (i.e., neighborhood social cohesion) moderated the relation between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use during early adolescence. METHODS: Participants were 775 adolescents (M = 10.95 ± 0.88 years; 69% male; 76% Caucasian), who reported on their past month frequency of marijuana use at Time 1 (when adolescents were 10-12 years old) and Time 2 (when adolescents were 12-14 years old). Mothers reported on neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion at Time 1. Youth reported on their negative emotional reactivity at Time 2. RESULTS: Negative binomial regression analyses indicated that neighborhood problems moderated the relationship between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use. In particular, in the context of low neighborhood problems, individuals with lower negative emotional reactivity were at attenuated risk for marijuana use compared to individuals higher in negative emotional reactivity. In the context of high neighborhood problems, individuals were at heightened risk for marijuana consumption regardless of their negative emotional reactivity levels. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that individual-level factors alone do not sufficiently account for early marijuana use and that neighborhood problems play a role in risk for or abstention from using marijuana during early adolescence. Implications for prevention and intervention for marijuana use during adolescence are discussed.

Examining changes in African American mothers' racial socialization patterns during adolescence: Racial discrimination as a predictor.

Racial socialization is a culturally relevant parenting strategy known to combat the detrimental consequences of racial discrimination for African American youth. Three limitations hinder our developmental understanding of the racial socialization process. Few studies have accounted for the combination of messages that primary caregivers convey, examined how these messages change over time, or investigated how caregivers and adolescents experiences with racial discrimination predict change in the combination of messages conveyed. Given that African American mothers are often the primary socializers in families, the current study used data from a community sample of 497 African American adolescents (52% Female; Time 1 Mage = 15.69; Time 2 Mage = 18.74) and their mothers (Time 1 Mage = 40.43; Time 2 Mage = 43.39) to identify patterns in mothers' racial socialization messages, identify how mothers' racial socialization patterns change from middle to late adolescence, and investigate whether mother- and adolescent-reported racial discrimination contribute to changes in mothers' racial socialization patterns. Latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis were used to examine these questions. Findings revealed three racial socialization patterns: balanced socializers who mistrust, cultural socialization and preparation for bias emphasizers, and low racial socializers. Most mothers were in the low racial socializers group, and most provided similar messages in middle and late adolescence. Mothers' reports of their own racial discrimination influenced the racial socialization messages mothers delivered; however, adolescent-reported racial discrimination did not. These results have implications for community-based interventions designed to help families manage racial discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

School Discrimination and Changes in Latinx Adolescents' Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms.

U.S. Latinx youth are growing up in an environment characterized by increased anti-immigrant policy and rhetoric, including experiences of discrimination. Given the salience of the school setting for youth's development, it is important to understand how experiences of discrimination by teachers and other adults at school, or school discrimination, relate to the emotional and behavioral adjustment of today's Latinx adolescents. Study participants include 547 Latinx adolescents selected at random from a large, suburban school district in Atlanta, Georgia (55.4% female; age M = 12.8, range = 11-16). Youth provided two time points of survey data spaced roughly 6 months apart during 2018 and 2019. Structural equation models (SEM) were used to test the main and interaction effects of school discrimination and parental support on later internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Multiple group SEM was used to investigate gender differences in pathways to adolescent adjustment. More school discrimination was related to more internalizing and externalizing symptoms at a later time point. Greater parental support was associated with fewer internalizing symptoms, but did not moderate associations between school discrimination and adolescent outcomes. Pathways to adolescent outcomes were similar for males and females. Study results suggest that discrimination by teachers and other adults at school is an important source of adversity potentially jeopardizing Latinx youth's emotional and behavioral adjustment. Future research is needed to identify factors that mitigate potentially harmful consequences of discrimination for Latinx adolescents.

Association of Family Member Detention or Deportation With Latino or Latina Adolescents' Later Risks of Suicidal Ideation, Alcohol Use, and Externalizing Problems.

Importance: Policy changes since early 2017 have resulted in a substantial expansion of Latino or Latina immigrants prioritized for deportation and detention. Professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Society for Research in Child Development, have raised concerns about the potentially irreversible mental health effects of deportations and detentions on Latino or Latina youths. Objective: To examine how family member detention or deportation is associated with Latino or Latina adolescents' later mental health problems and risk behaviors. Design, Setting, and Participants: Survey data were collected between February 14 and April 26, 2018, and between September 17, 2018, and January 13, 2019, and at a 6-month follow-up from 547 Latino or Latina adolescents who were randomly selected from grade and sex strata in middle schools in a suburban Atlanta, Georgia, school district. Prospective data were analyzed using multivariable, multivariate logistic models within a structural equation modeling framework. Models examined how family member detention or deportation within the prior 12 months was associated with later changes in suicidal ideation, alcohol use, and clinical externalizing symptoms, controlling for initial mental health and risk behaviors. Exposure: Past-year family member detention or deportation. Main Outcomes and Measures: Follow-up reports of suicidal ideation in the past 6 months, alcohol use since the prior survey, and clinical level of externalizing symptoms in the past 6 months. Results: A total of 547 adolescents (303 girls; mean [SD] age, 12.8 [1.0] years) participated in this prospective survey. Response rates were 65.2% (547 of 839) among contacted parents and 95.3% (547 of 574) among contacted adolescents whose parents provided permission. The 6-month follow-up retention rate was 81.5% (446 of 547). A total of 136 adolescents (24.9%) had a family member detained or deported in the prior year. Family member detention or deportation was associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation (38 of 136 [27.9%] vs 66 of 411 [16.1%]; adjusted odds ratio, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.06-5.29), alcohol use (25 of 136 [18.4%] vs 30 of 411 [7.3%]; adjusted odds ratio, 2.98; 95% CI, 1.26-7.04), and clinical externalizing behaviors (31 of 136 [22.8%] vs 47 of 411 [11.4%]; adjusted odds ratio, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.11-6.84) at follow-up, controlling for baseline variables. Conclusion and Relevance: This study suggests that recent immigration policy changes may be associated with critical outcomes jeopardizing the health of Latino or Latina adolescents. Since 95% of US Latino or Latina adolescents are citizens, compromised mental health and risk behavior tied to family member detention or deportation raises concerns regarding the association of current immigration policies with the mental health of Latino and Latina adolescents in the United States.

Racial exclusion causes acute cortisol release among emerging-adult African Americans: The role of reduced perceived control.

Racial discrimination contributes to stress-related health disparities among African Americans, but less is known about the acute effects of racial exclusion on the hypo-pituitary-adrenocortical response and psychological mediators. Participants were 276 Black/African American emerging-adults (54% female; M age = 21.74, SD = 2.21) who were randomly assigned to be excluded or included by White peers via the game Cyberball. Racial exclusion (vs. inclusion) predicted: greater negative affect (F(1, 276) = 104.885, p < .0001), lower perceived control (F(1, 276) = 205.523, p < .0001), and greater cortisol release (F(1, 274) = 4.575, p = .033). Racial exclusion's impact on cortisol release was mediated by lower perceived control (95% CI: .027, .112), but not negative affect (-.041, .013). These findings suggest that racial exclusion contributes to acute cortisol release, and that reduced perceived control is a consequence of racial discrimination that has important implications for the health of those who experience discrimination.

Daily multidimensional racial discrimination among Black U.S. American adolescents.

This study examined frequencies and psychological effects of daily racial discrimination experienced individually, vicariously, online, offline, and through teasing. Participants were 101 Black U.S. American adolescents for this ecological momentary assessment study that measured daily racial discrimination and 14-day depressive symptoms slopes. Confirmatory factor analyses specified subscales, t-test analyses compared subscale means, and hierarchical linear analyses tested associations between subscales and depressive symptoms slopes. Results showed that six subscales fit the data well: individual general, vicarious general, individual online, vicarious online, individual teasing, and vicarious teasing. Participants reported 5606 experiences of racial discrimination during the study and averaged 5.21 experiences per day across the six subscales. The two online subscales were more frequent than the offline subscales. Aside from online vicarious experiences, all subscales were positively associated with depressive symptoms slopes. Findings underscore the multidimensional, quotidian, and impactful nature of racial discrimination in the lives of Black adolescents in the U.S.

Autonomy-related Parenting Processes and Adolescent Adjustment in Latinx Immigrant Families.

It is unclear how autonomy-related parenting processes are associated with Latinx adolescent adjustment. This study uses Latent Profile Analysis to identify typologies of parental monitoring and parent-adolescent conflict and examines their association with Latinx youth's school performance and depressive symptoms. The sample included 248 Latinx 9th and 10th graders (50% female) who completed surveys during fall (Time 1) and spring (Time 2) semesters of the school year. When compared to a high monitoring/low conflict parenting profile, a moderate monitoring/moderate conflict profile was associated with stronger declines in school performance; for boys, a high monitoring/moderately high conflict profile also was associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms. For Latinx immigrant families, researchers should consider monitoring and conflict as co-occurring processes.

Parenting Processes and Adolescent Adjustment in Immigrant Latino Families: The Use of Residual Centering to Address the Multicollinearity Problem.

Family cohesion and parental monitoring promote Latino adolescents' positive adjustment. For Latino immigrant families, these parenting processes tend to be interdependent due to shared roots in cultural values emphasizing family togetherness and parental authority. This covariance poses a significant methodological problem with respect to multicollinearity. The present article uses a novel technique-residual centering-to remove shared variance among family cohesion and parental monitoring constructs and, in turn, to identify how the unique variance of each is associated with Latino adolescent adjustment. Participants include 249 9th and 10th graders in Mexican and Central American immigrant families. We compared findings from structural equation models in which parenting constructs were examined simultaneously with residual-centered models, in which shared variance among parenting constructs was removed for each parenting variable. Findings from residual-centered models revealed that parents' monitoring of youth's daily activities was associated with less alcohol use and fewer youth depressive symptoms, and that parents' monitoring of youth's peer activities outside the home was associated with less marijuana use and more depressive symptoms. Family cohesion was unrelated to Latino youth outcomes in residual-centered models. By isolating specific, "pure" parenting effects, residual centering can clarify the ways in which family cohesion and parental monitoring behaviors matter for Latino adolescents' adjustment.

La cohesión familiar y la supervisión de hijos promueven el bien estar de los adolescentes Latinos. Para las familias inmigrantes, estos procesos de crianza son interdependientes por que los valores de unidad y autoridad dentro de la familia son ambos culturales. Esta covarianza es un problema metodológico por que causa multicolinealidad. Este estudio usa una técnica innovadora ("residual centering") para resolver el problema de covarianza entre los constructos de la cohesión familiar y la supervisión de hijos; y de esta manera, identificar como la varianza única de cada constructo es asociada con el ajustamiento de los adolescentes. Participantes fueron 249 adolescentes del grado 9° y 10° de familias inmigrantes de México y Centroamérica. Comparamos los resultados de modelos de ecuaciones estructurales en que los dos constructos fueron examinados simultáneamente a los modelos de "residual centering" en que los constructos fueron examinados independientemente. Según los modelos de "residual centering," la supervisión de las actividades diarias de hijos es asociada con menos consumo de alcohol y síntomas de depresión, y la supervisión de las actividades fuera de casa es asociada con menos consumo de marihuana pero más síntomas de depresión. Sin embargo, la cohesión familiar no tuvo asociación con el ajustamiento de los adolescentes. En separar los efectos de los constructos, esta técnica de "residual centering" puede clarificar el impacto único de la cohesión familiar y la supervisión de hijos en los adolescentes.

Negative Consequences Associated With Witnessing Severe Violent Events: The Role of Control-Related Beliefs.

PURPOSE: Control-related beliefs are defined as beliefs in one's ability to cause an effect in one's environment. With recent increases in violence in some cities, understanding the impact of exposure to violence on these beliefs is important. The present study examined whether witnessing severe community violence during early adolescence was associated with trajectories of control-related beliefs, and whether these trajectories were associated with mental and behavioral health outcomes in early adulthood. METHOD: Using data from a longitudinal preventive intervention study, we modeled trajectories of control-related beliefs using growth mixture modeling from 9th through 12th grade. The violence exposure of interest was witnessing severe community violence, defined as seeing someone being shot, stabbed, or killed. Early adulthood outcomes examined were post high school suicide attempt; having a criminal justice record; and having a diagnosis of substance use disorder, major depressive disorder, or antisocial personality disorder. RESULTS: The latent growth mixture model identified three trajectories of control-related beliefs: a low stable trajectory, a high increasing trajectory, and a moderate stable trajectory. Participants who were exposed to severe violent events were significantly more likely to be in the low trajectory. Further, those in the low trajectory were significantly more likely to experience several negative outcomes. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that witnessing severe forms of community violence impacts control-related belief trajectories and that trajectories characterized by low feelings of control are associated with adverse outcomes in early adulthood.