Profiles of Suicidal Ideation Among Black Male Adolescents: Examination of Individual and Socioecological Predictors.

OBJECTIVE: The current study utilized latent profile analysis to identify distinct profiles of suicidal ideation among Black male adolescents and compared profiles on socioecological determinants of suicide and psychological symptoms. METHOD: A sample of 457 Black male adolescents (mean age = 15.31, SD = 1.26) completed self-report measures of suicidal ideation, racial discrimination, community violence exposure, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. RESULTS: Results of the latent profile analysis revealed a three-profile model: a low ideation profile, with low levels of all forms of suicidal ideation; a general death ideation profile with elevated general thoughts of death and dying; and a high, concealed ideation profile with high levels on all suicidal ideation items, except communicating the ideation to others. ANOVAs revealed that levels of psychological symptoms were significantly different for each profile, with the high, concealed ideation profile showing the highest levels. The low ideation profile had significantly lower scores than the two other profiles on community violence exposure, but the other two profiles did not differ significantly from one another. Further, the general death ideation profile had significantly higher scores on racial discrimination than the other two profiles, but the other two profiles did not differ significantly from one another. CONCLUSIONS: The current study supports recent socio-cultural theories of suicidal ideation and behavior in Black youth and highlights the need for increased access to care and services for Black boys who are exposed to socioecological factors that heighten suicidal ideation.

Identity-based bullying and mental health among Black and Latino youth: The moderating role of emotional suppression.

The current study examined the prevalence of identity-based bullying, the unique links between identity-based bullying and mental health (i.e., depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms [PTSS]), and emotional suppression as a potential moderator of these links. Participants were 899 clinic-referred Black and Latino youth aged 7-18 years (M = 13.37 years, SD = 2.75, 60.8% female). Regression analyses indicated youth who experienced identity-based bullying victimization reported worse depressive symptoms and PTSS, controlling for co-occurring trauma exposure and demographic characteristics. We did not find evidence that emotional suppression moderated these associations. The findings highlight the potentially traumatic nature of identity-based bullying victimization in treatment-seeking Black and Latino youth and speak to the need for identity-based bullying risk screening.

A trauma-informed approach to understanding firearm decision-making among Black adolescents: Implications for prevention.

Firearm violence remains a public health crisis in marginalized, urban communities, with Black adolescents bearing the burden of firearm homicides and injuries. As such, the prevention of firearm violence among adolescents has moved to a high priority of the U.S. public health agenda. The current paper reviews recent literature to highlight the heterogeneity in firearm behavior among Black adolescents and underscore the need for additional research on decision-making and firearm behavior to better understand how adolescents make decisions to acquire, carry, and use firearms. Through a discussion of the disproportionate levels of trauma exposure and trauma symptoms experienced by Black adolescents, the current paper also proposes a trauma-informed approach to understanding decision-making for risky firearm behavior. We discuss the broader impacts of this approach, including the development of a more comprehensive and contextually relevant understanding of the variability in risky firearm behavior and improvements in risk screening capabilities and preventive intervention strategies.

Coping socialization in Black families: A latent profile analysis.

The purpose of the present study was to employ latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct profiles of Black caregivers based on how they socialize their children to cope with stress. Participants included 126 Black female caregivers (Mage = 40.67, SD = 9.73) who provided data on 149 4th-8th-grade children (61% female; Mage = 11.21, SD = 1.52). Caregivers self-reported on socialization of child coping, caregiver support, and caregiver coping behaviors; children reported on caregiver socialization of coping, caregiver support, and child coping. The LPA revealed three distinct socialization profiles: A low diversified socialization profile, an engagement socialization profile, and a high diversified socialization profile. Caregivers in the low diversified socialization profile reported lower levels of primary and secondary engagement and disengagement coping, as well as increased parental support, compared to both the engagement socialization profile and high diversified socialization profile. Furthermore, results revealed that the three socialization profiles did not differ on children's self-report of coping. Results from the present study suggest variability among Black caregivers' coping socialization strategies and additional research is needed to maximize best outcomes for Black youth and their families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the Factor Structure of the Coping With Community Violence Scale for Urban Youth.

Coping strategies may play an important role in how youth respond to exposure to community violence (ECV) and, in turn, influence the impact of violence exposure on their psychosocial functioning. Unfortunately, the research on coping with ECV has not revealed consistent results, suggesting that the uncontrollable and chronic nature of ECV in low-income, urban communities may require stressor-specific coping strategies. Recent qualitative research identified four types of coping that are specific to ECV for African American adolescents. However, additional quantitative research is needed to understand the adaptiveness of these strategies for African American youth. As such, the current study examined the factor structure of the Coping with Community Violence (CWCV) scale, a measure designed to specifically assess ECV-specific coping strategies, in a sample of 594 African American adolescents (Mage = 15.85, SD = 1.42). Furthermore, to demonstrate the predictive validity of the CWCV measure, the current study examined the moderating role of these ECV-specific coping strategies in the association between ECV and externalizing behaviors. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a three-factor model that included getting through coping, getting away coping, and getting along coping demonstrated a good fit to the data. Moderation analyses demonstrated that getting through coping and getting away coping interacted with ECV to predict externalizing behaviors, but the results differed by participant gender. Results are discussed in regard to unique context of ECV as it relates to coping and psychosocial behavior in African American adolescents affected by violence exposure.

The Prevalence and Longitudinal Patterns of Continuous Community Violence Exposure and Trauma-Related Symptoms in Adolescent Male Serious Offenders.

The current study examined the longitudinal patterns of continuous exposure to community violence (ECV) and associated symptoms in serious adolescent male offenders. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance Study (Schubert et al., 2004), the current study examined the prevalence of continuous ECV and the stability in exposure over a 3-year period in 1,170 adolescent male offenders (M age at baseline = 16.05 years, SD = 1.15). The results revealed variability in adolescent offenders' ECV and trauma-related symptoms. A latent class analysis identified three classes of participants at each time point: "witnessed with hostility," "dually exposed [i.e., high probability of both witnessing and victimization] with anxiety and hostility," and "no/low exposure with anxiety and hostility." Participants in the witnessed with hostility class reported more baseline ECV than those in the other classes, ds = 0.62-1.37, and more violent offenses than those in the dually exposed with anxiety and hostility class, d = 0.48. In addition, participants in the witnessed with hostility class were older, d = 0.10, and reported more violent offenses at baseline, d = 0.07, than those in the no/low exposure class; however, participants in the no/low exposure class reported spending more time in secure settings with no community access than those in the witnessed with hostility class, d = 0.20. A latent transition analysis over a 3-year period revealed relatively high stability in ECV and trauma-related symptoms over time, with a large proportion of participants remaining in the same violence and trauma class at each transition.

Hopelessness and Delinquent Behavior as Predictors of Community Violence Exposure in Ethnic Minority Male Adolescent Offenders.

Justice-involved boys from urban communities are disproportionately impacted by community violence exposure (ECV) and despite decades of research, rates of ECV in youth continue to increase particularly for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Despite the increased risk of exposure, the majority of research focuses on what may protect youth from the deleterious outcomes associated with violence exposure, rather than strategies that may prevent the violence exposure from occurring. The current study seeks to shift the focus of research in this area to examining factors that may predict future violence exposure. Specifically, the purpose of the current study is to examine the role of hopelessness as a predictor of the risk for violence exposure in a sample of 831 justice-involved, urban boys ages 14-18 (52.2% African American, 42.1% Hispanic, 5.7% other). Results revealed that baseline levels of low aspirations and hopelessness towards the future indirectly predicted violence exposure 1 year later through engagement in delinquent behavior. Clinical implications for targeting youth with elevated risk and preventing future violence exposure are discussed.

Understanding development of African American boys and young men: Moving from risks to positive youth development.

African American boys and young men in the United States face challenges unique to being a male and an ethnic minority in our society. Despite the marginalization of African American boys and young men, this article argues that African American boys and young men, like other individuals, are in large proportion able to overcome adversity and utilize positive youth development assets and resources, and that focusing on capabilities and strengths is worthy of primary emphasis (Lerner, Dowling, & Anderson, 2003; Stevenson, 2016). García Coll and colleagues' (1996) integrative model of developmental competencies in minority children lays the groundwork for conceptualizing the profound influence of racism, economic disadvantage, oppression, segregation, and other trauma-inducing experiences on the development of African American boys and young men. We extend that framework by adding notions of positive development and adaptive calibration to contextual challenges to account for prosocial development of African American boys and young men. We present descriptive and experimental research support for this approach and argue that it has the potential for increasing the validity, sophistication, and utility of developmental research on about African American boys and young men are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record

Examining a Dual-Process Model of Desensitization and Hypersensitization to Community Violence in African American Male Adolescents.

The purpose of the current study was to examine a dual-process model of reactivity to community violence exposure in African American male adolescents from urban communities. The model focused on desensitization and hypersensitization effects as well as desensitization and hypersensitization as predictors of aggressive behavior. Participants were 133 African American male high school students, mean age = 15.17 years, SD = 0.96. Participants completed measures of exposure to community violence, depressive symptoms, hyperarousal symptoms, aggressive beliefs, and aggressive behaviors at two time points. Community violence exposure predicted changes in aggression, ß = .25, p = .004, and physiological arousal, ß = .22, p = .010, over time, but not aggressive beliefs. The curvilinear association between community violence exposure and changes in depression over time was not significant, ß = .42, p = .083, but there was a significant linear association between the exposure to community violence (ECV) and changes in levels of depression over time, ß = .21, p = .014. Results indicated a significant mediation effect for hyperarousal on the association between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior, B = 0.20, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.54]. Results showed support for physiological hypersensitization, with hypersensitization increasing the risk for aggressive behavior.

Examining the effects of emotional and cognitive desensitization to community violence exposure in male adolescents of color.

The current study examined pathways in a model of desensitization, the Pathologic Adaptation Model, in adolescent males of color. Specifically, the current study examined depressive symptoms and deviant beliefs as mediators of the association between community violence exposure and subsequent violent behavior. The current study included 250 African-American (67%) and Latino (33%) male adolescents (T1 mean age = 15.32) from the Chicago Youth Development Study. Consistent with the Pathologic Adaptation Model, results demonstrated that depressive symptoms mediated the association between the quadratic violence exposure term in middle adolescence and violent behaviors in late adolescence, but the direction of the mediation effect was dependent upon the levels of violence exposure in middle adolescence. However, deviant beliefs were not found to be a significant mediator. Emotional desensitization effects may increase the likelihood of violence perpetration in adolescent males exposed to community violence, and the implications for future research and intervention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Examining the Pathologic Adaptation Model of Community Violence Exposure in Male Adolescents of Color.

The current study examined a model of desensitization to community violence exposure-the pathologic adaptation model-in male adolescents of color. The current study included 285 African American (61%) and Latino (39%) male adolescents (W1 M age = 12.41) from the Chicago Youth Development Study to examine the longitudinal associations between community violence exposure, depressive symptoms, and violent behavior. Consistent with the pathologic adaptation model, results indicated a linear, positive association between community violence exposure in middle adolescence and violent behavior in late adolescence, as well as a curvilinear association between community violence exposure in middle adolescence and depressive symptoms in late adolescence, suggesting emotional desensitization. Further, these effects were specific to cognitive-affective symptoms of depression and not somatic symptoms. Emotional desensitization outcomes, as assessed by depressive symptoms, can occur in male adolescents of color exposed to community violence and these effects extend from middle adolescence to late adolescence.

Profiles of Community Violence Exposure Among African American Youth: An Examination of Desensitization to Violence Using Latent Class Analysis.

The current study employed latent class analysis (LCA) to identify distinct profiles of community violence exposure and their associations to desensitization outcomes in 241 African American early adolescents (M age = 12.86, SD = 1.28) in the sixth through eighth grade from under-resourced urban communities. Participants self-reported on their exposure to community violence, as well as on depressive and anxiety symptoms. The LCA revealed three distinct classes: a class exposed to low levels of violence (low exposure class), a class exposed to moderately high levels of victimization (victimization class), and a class exposed to high levels of all types of violence (high exposure class). Consistent with predictions, the high exposure class showed the lowest levels of depressive symptoms, suggesting a desensitization outcome. Gender and age were also examined in relation to the classes, and age was significantly associated with an increased risk of being a member of the high exposure class relative to the low exposure class. Using person-based analyses to examine desensitization outcomes provides useful information for prevention and intervention efforts, as it helps to identify a specific subgroup of youth that may be more likely to show desensitization outcomes in the context of community violence.

Development of cities mentor project: an intervention to improve academic outcomes for low-income urban youth through instruction in effective coping supported by mentoring relationships and protective settings.

This manuscript summarizes an iterative process used to develop a new intervention for low-income urban youth at risk for negative academic outcomes (e.g., disengagement, failure, drop-out). A series of seven steps, building incrementally one upon the other, are described: 1) identify targets of the intervention; 2) develop logic model; 3) identify effective elements of targets; 4) vet intervention with stakeholders; 5) develop models for sustaining the intervention; 6) develop measures of relevant constructs currently missing from the literature; 7) assess feasibility and usability of the intervention. Methods used to accomplish these steps include basic research studies, literature reviews, meta-analyses, focus groups, community advisory meetings, consultations with scholarly consultants, and piloting. The resulting intervention provides early adolescents in low-income urban communities with a) training in contextually relevant coping, b) connection to mentors who support youth's developing coping strategies, and c) connection to youth-serving community organizations, where youth receive additional support.

Maternal parenting behaviors and child coping in African American families.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of three parental influences (i.e., socialization of coping, modeling of coping, and the parent-child relationship) on coping strategies of African American children, as well as child gender as a moderator of these associations. Participants were 83 African American children (mean age = 11.2, SD = 1.44) and their maternal caregivers (mean age = 40.45, SD = 9.55). Both children and parents completed measures of coping behaviors, parental socialization of coping, and maternal support. Regression analyses demonstrated that child reports of their mothers' behavior were better predictors of child coping than mothers' self-reports, with child reports of maternal support and socialization of coping predicting child coping. Results also revealed that child gender moderated the association between maternal parenting behavior and child coping. Specifically, maternal parenting behaviors were more important for girls' coping strategies than for boys' coping strategies. Our results add to the literature on the effects of parent-child relationships on children's responses to stress.

An examination of the tripartite model of depressive and anxiety symptoms in African American youth: stressors and coping strategies as common and specific correlates.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the tripartite model of depression and anxiety in a community-based sample of 278 African American adolescents (M age = 12.89) from low-income communities and to identify stressors and coping strategies that were associated with the specific features of each disorder. Participants reported on depression, anxiety, stressors, and coping strategies. As predicted, the three-factor structure of the tripartite model was a valid representation of anxiety and depression in African American youth. Further, stressors and coping strategies showed specific associations to features of depression and anxiety. The findings provide evidence of factors that may help to distinguish between internalizing symptoms in African American youth.

Effects of exposure to community violence on internalizing symptoms: does desensitization to violence occur in African American youth?

The purpose of the current study was to examine the linear and curvilinear associations of exposure to community violence to internalizing symptoms in 251 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.86, SD = 1.28). Participants reported on exposure to community violence, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses and, consistent with predictions, the results indicated that the association between violence and depression was curvilinear; whereas the association to anxiety was linear and positive. The results highlight the importance of considering more complex models of the impact of exposure to community violence on psychological functioning in African American youth from economically-disadvantaged communities.

Suppressor effects in coping research with African American adolescents from low-income communities.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to demonstrate the replicable nature of statistical suppressor effects in coping research through 2 examples with African American adolescents from low-income communities. METHOD: Participants in the 1st example included 497 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.61 years, SD = 0.99; 57% female) reporting on dispositional coping, and participants in the 2nd example included 268 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.90 years, SD = 1.27; 56% female) reporting on situation-based coping. Participants in both samples completed self-report measures of coping strategies (Children's Coping Strategies Checklist and How I Coped Under Pressure Scale) and internalizing symptoms (Youth Self-Report, Children's Depression Inventory, and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale). RESULTS: The results of structural equation modeling revealed significant suppressor effects, with active coping and support-seeking coping enhancing the association between avoidant coping and internalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The demonstration of replicable suppressor effects helps to advance coping research and intervention by providing evidence of the interdependence of coping strategies, thus increasing understanding of how coping strategies work together to predict outcomes. The current study offers recommendations for understanding associations among coping strategies within the context of suppression effects.

The effects of changes in racial identity and self-esteem on changes in african american adolescents' mental health.

This study assessed the unique effects of racial identity and self-esteem on 259 African American adolescents' depressive and anxiety symptoms as they transitioned from the 7th to 8th grades (ages 12-14). Racial identity and self-esteem were strongly correlated with each other for males but not for females. For both males and females, an increase in racial identity over the 1 year was associated with a decrease in the prevalence of depressive symptoms over the same period, even with self-esteem controlled. It was concluded that racial identity may be as important as self-esteem to the mental health of African American adolescents, and it explains variance in their mental health not associated with feelings of oneself as an individual.

The impact of racial discrimination and coping strategies on internalizing symptoms in African American youth.

The current study examined the impact of racial discrimination stress on internalizing symptoms and coping strategies in a sample of 268 African American early adolescents (mean age = 12.90; 56% female) from low-income communities. Information about discrimination stress, coping, and internalizing symptoms was obtained via adolescents' self-report. It was predicted that discrimination stress would be positively associated with depression and anxiety, as well as culturally-specific coping. Finally, culturally-relevant coping and mainstream coping were examined as moderators of the association between discrimination stress and internalizing symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that discrimination stress was positively associated with depression and anxiety and predicted culturally-relevant coping while controlling for mainstream coping. Communalistic coping moderated the association between discrimination and anxiety, but demonstrated a vulnerability function by increasing anxiety at high levels of discrimination. The results highlight the salience of racial discrimination for African American adolescents and the importance of considering culturally-specific coping behaviors.

Maternal attachment and depressive symptoms in urban adolescents: the influence of coping strategies and gender.

The current study examined coping strategies as mediators of the relation between maternal attachment and depressive symptoms in a sample of urban youth. Participants included 393 adolescents (M age = 12.03, SD = .85) participating in a larger study of the impact of stressful life experiences on low-income urban youth. Participants completed self-report measures of maternal attachment, coping strategies, and depressive symptoms at two time points. Results indicated that attachment was not a significant predictor of depression over time. Path analyses demonstrated limited support for a model in which higher maternal attachment predicted higher active coping, which in turn predicted fewer depressive symptoms at Time 2. Maternal attachment was a significant predictor of higher support-seeking coping, avoidant, and distraction coping. Higher maternal attachment predicted greater use of active coping strategies for boys but not for girls, and greater use of active coping strategies predicted fewer depressive symptoms for girls but not for boys.