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.

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.

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.

Addressing the inappropriate use of force by police in the United States and beyond: A behavioral and social science perspective.

Recent high-profile incidents involving the deadly application of force in the United States sparked worldwide protests and renewed scrutiny of police practices as well as scrutiny of relations between police officers and minoritized communities. In this report, we consider the inappropriate use of force by police from the perspective of behavioral and social science inquiry related to aggression, violence, and intergroup relations. We examine the inappropriate use of force by police in the context of research on modern policing as well as critical race theory and offer five recommendations suggested by contemporary theory and research. Our recommendations are aimed at policymakers, law enforcement administrators, and scholars and are as follows: (1) Implement public policies that can reduce inappropriate use of force directly and through the reduction of broader burdens on the routine activities of police officers. (2) For officers frequently engaged in use-of-force incidents, ensure that best practice, evidence-based treatments are available and required. (3) Improve and increase the quality and delivery of noncoercive conflict resolution training for all officers, along with police administrative policies and supervision that support alternatives to the use of force, both while scaling back the militarization of police departments. (4) Continue the development and evaluation of multicomponent interventions for police departments, but ensure they incorporate evidence-based, field-tested components. (5) Expand research in the behavioral and social sciences aimed at understanding and managing use-of-force by police and reducing its disproportionate impact on minoritized communities, and expand funding for these lines of inquiry.

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.

What's Race Got to Do With It? Racial Socialization's Contribution to Black Adolescent Coping.

While youth generally experience stressors from developmental milestones, Black youth also face racialized stressors. Racial socialization has been found to help Black youth cope with racialized stressors, but research has yet to show its contribution to coping beyond general socialization practices. This study examines how racial socialization contributes beyond that of general coping socialization to coping behaviors. Fifty-eight third-eighth-grade (Mage  = 11.3, SD = 1.54) youth reported general coping socialization and racial socialization practices and coping behaviors. Results indicate that for engagement coping, racial socialization messages contributed significantly to parent-provided engaged socialization strategies. Implications are considered for the ways in which Black youth experience stress and require culturally specific practices for successful coping with frequently encountered stressors.

Relationship of childhood adversity and neighborhood violence to a proinflammatory phenotype in emerging adult African American men: An epigenetic link.

African American men (AAM) who are exposed to trauma and adversity during their early life are at greater risk for poor health over their lifespan. Exposure to adversity during critical developmental windows may embed an epigenetic signature that alters expression of genes that regulate stress response systems, including those genes that regulate the inflammatory response to stress. Such an epigenetic signature may increase risk for diseases exacerbated by inflammation, and may contribute to health disparity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which exposure to early life adversity influences the psychological, cortisol, and proinflammatory response to acute stress (Trier Social Stress Test - TSST) in emerging adult AAM, ages 18-25years (N=34). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the cortisol and IL-6 pattern of response to the TSST with respect to childhood adversity factors and DNA methylation of the IL-6 promoter. Findings revealed that in response to the TSST, greater levels of childhood trauma and indirect exposure to neighborhood violence were associated with a greater TSST-induced IL-6 response, and a blunted cortisol response. Reduced methylation of the IL6 promoter was related to increased exposure to childhood trauma and greater TSST-induced IL-6 levels. These results support the concept that exposure to childhood adversity amplifies the adult proinflammatory response to stress, which is related to epigenetic signature.

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 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.

Examining the integrated model of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and intersectionality theory among Black male adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Guided by Opara et al.'s (2022), Integrated Model of the Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide and Intersectionality Theory, the current study examined contextual stressors experienced disparately by Black youth (racial discrimination, poverty, and community violence) as moderators of the association between individual motivating factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and hopelessness) and active suicidal ideation. METHOD: Participants were 457 Black adolescent boys (mean age = 15.31, SD = 1.26) who completed self-report surveys. RESULTS: As predicted, the association between perceived burdensomeness and active suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by economic stress. In addition, the association between peer belongingness and suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by racial discrimination, but there were no moderating effects for school belongingness. Finally, the association between hopelessness and suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by both racial discrimination and witnessing community violence. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the need for research, interventions, and policy work devoted to using integrated approaches of individual and socioeconomically relevant patterns of suicidal thoughts and behaviors to support Black youth exposed to various forms of structural oppression.

Family Matters: The Effects of Multigenerational Community Violence Exposure on Family Functioning.

Exposure to community violence is known to be associated with a host of maladaptive outcomes in both youth and adult populations. Though frequently examined in other interpersonal violence literature, family functioning has yet to be examined as an outcome in community violence literature. The current study begins to address this need by exploring the impact of parent and child's exposure to community violence on parents' perception of family functioning. Two hundred parent-child dyads (sons Mage =12.39, SD = 1.22 at baseline; mothers Mage = 42.79, SD = 9.21 at Wave 5) living in under-resourced, urban neighborhoods completed self-report questionnaires about their exposure (i.e., direct or indirect) to violent events in their community within the last year. The parents then completed an additional self-report questionnaire about their perception of family functioning at one year and three years post community violence exposure, respectively. Results of general linear modeling showed that at one- and three-years post-direct and indirect exposure, family cohesion and family communication was highest when 1) neither the parent nor child were exposed and when 2) only the child was exposed. Family functioning was at its lowest levels when the group included a parent who reported direct or indirect exposure to community violence. The results highlight a need to provide family-based psychosocial interventions to families exposed to violence to help preserve both individual and family functioning after exposure.

Developing practices for hospital-based violence intervention programs to address anti-Black racism and historical trauma.

To promote health equity among Black youth exposed to community violence, it is critical that psychologists partner with other health care professionals and communities with lived experience to explicitly address anti-Black racism and historical trauma as fundamental contributors to violence-related health inequities. This article describes our community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to develop practices for hospital-based violence intervention programs that mitigate violence-related health inequities among Black youth. Current conceptualizations of trauma-related symptoms among Black youth exposed to community violence often fail to consider the role of anti-Black racism and historical trauma in creating and maintaining traumatic stress. Our CBPR formative studies highlight the importance of and priorities to address community violence within the context of anti-Black racism and historical trauma. In describing our process and developed tools and practices, we aim to highlight the important contributions psychologists can make through interdisciplinary and community partnerships to advance health equity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the Pathologic Adaptation Model of Community Violence Exposure in Justice Involved Adolescents: the Moderating and Mediating Effects of Moral Disengagement.

According to the pathologic adaptation model (Ng-Mak et al. in The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72, 92-101, 2002), youth who experience community violence exposure may become desensitized to these experiences. Moral disengagement, which refers to changing one's moral or ethical standards to justify engaging in destructive or harmful behavior, has been proposed as a construct to explain the relation between community violence exposure and desensitization (Bandura et al., 1996). The purpose of the current study was to test the pathologic adaptation model of community violence exposure and examine the role of moral disengagement in these pathways. The current study included a sample of justice-involved adolescents (n = 1,170; M age = 16.05, SD = 1.16) from the Pathways to Desistance study. The PROCESS bootstrapping procedure for SPSS was used to examine whether moral disengagement mediates the associations from community violence to aggressive behaviors and depressive. Exploratory analyses examined moral disengagement as a moderator these associations. Moral disengagement significantly moderated the association between witnessing violence and self-reported offending such that witnessing violence at baseline significantly positively predicted offending for individuals who were moderate to high (but not low) in moral disengagement. In contrast, moral disengagement did not moderate the linear association between community violence exposure and depressive symptoms. Further, moral disengagement did not mediate the association between community violence exposure and offending. Results from this study highlight the need to increase access to mental health services and re-entry programs to reduce offending behaviors for justice-involved youth.

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).

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.

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.

Translating cultural assets research into action to mitigate adverse childhood experience-related health disparities among African American youth.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including trauma exposure, parent mental health problems, family dysfunction, and community-level adversities put individuals at risk for a host of negative health outcomes. The effects of cumulative ACEs are numerous, diverse, and can predispose an individual to cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems as well as premature death. African American youth experience disproportionate exposure to ACEs in the context of racism that increases risk for allostatic load and hinders systems of care responses resulting in physical and mental health disparities. To maximize efforts to mitigate these disparities it is imperative that we translate research into action to respond to ACEs in the context of racism. This article synthesizes African American cultural assets research within a resilience after trauma framework to provide a foundation for translating research into action to mitigate ACE-related disparities among African American youth. We present task shifting and youth-partnered advocacy as two strategies supported by this framework and describe their application to responding to ACEs in the context of racism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Exposure to Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Among Youth in Public Housing: Do Community, Family, and Peers Matter?

This study examines the mediating roles of neighborhood risk factors, parental behaviors, and peers on the relationship between community violence exposure and posttraumatic stress in a sample of urban youth in low-income public housing communities. Data are from 320 African-American youth living in public housing in a northeastern city in the USA. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the stated relationships. Study results point to significant effects of violence exposure on posttraumatic stress in urban youth. While findings indicated indirect effects of neighborhood risk, parenting practices, and exposure to delinquent peers on posttraumatic stress, each of these paths operates through their relationship with violence exposure, with exposure to delinquent peers having the strongest mediating effect. Exposure to delinquent peers mediates the effects of neighborhood risks and parental behaviors on exposure to community violence, representing one potential intervention point to disrupt the deleterious effects of exposure to violence among youth. Our findings suggest interventions that address peer influence, and group norms may serve as protective factors against the risk of youth violence exposure. Overall, results highlight the co-occurring socioecological context of community violence exposure for youth living in public housing.

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.