Capitalizing on Place: An Investigation of the Relationships among Social Capital, Neighborhood Conditions, Maternal Depression, and Child Outcomes

In this dissertation I employ an ecological framework to understand the co-occurring influence of the individual, family, and community on child and maternal well-being. Specifically, I investigate the relationship of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and social capital as it applies to child behavior problems, child academic skills, and maternal depression, while also accounting for individual and family characteristics. In all three studies, I analyze data from the Los Angles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS) using multilevel linear regression. In the first study, I investigate the association of neighborhood and maternal characteristics with child and adolescent behavior problems. The results showed that children and adolescents of depressed mothers, and children living in high poverty neighborhoods, had more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Finally, although neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior, social capital did attenuate the relationship between maternal depression and higher levels of adolescent behavior problems.In the second study, I demonstrate that children of depressed mothers performed worse on measures of reading ability and math computation skills. Also, children living in neighborhoods higher in social capital performed better on the measure of math computation compared to children living in lower social capital neighborhoods. However, social capital was not associated with either of the measures of reading achievement. In addition, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was not significantly associated with any of the academic outcomes. I also did not find that social capital moderated the relationship between maternal depression and child academic skills.In the third study, I focus on the importance of neighborhood characteristics as predictors of depression among Latina mothers. I also investigated how neighborhood structural characteristics - socioeconomic disadvantage, residential stability and the percent of Latinos in the community, are associated with social capital. As expected, residential stability was positively, while socioeconomic disadvantage was negatively, associated with social capital. Contrary to my hypothesis about the protective effects of living in a neighborhood with a higher percent of co-ethnics, an ethnic enclave, the percent of Latinos in the community was negatively associated with social capital. However, as predicted, neighborhood social capital was negatively associated with depression for Latinas

Capitalizing on Place: An Investigation of the Relationships among Social Capital, Neighborhood Conditions, Maternal Depression, and Child Outcomes

In this dissertation I employ an ecological framework to understand the co-occurring influence of the individual, family, and community on child and maternal well-being. Specifically, I investigate the relationship of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and social capital as it applies to child behavior problems, child academic skills, and maternal depression, while also accounting for individual and family characteristics. In all three studies, I analyze data from the Los Angles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS) using multilevel linear regression. In the first study, I investigate the association of neighborhood and maternal characteristics with child and adolescent behavior problems. The results showed that children and adolescents of depressed mothers, and children living in high poverty neighborhoods, had more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Finally, although neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior, social capital did attenuate the relationship between maternal depression and higher levels of adolescent behavior problems.In the second study, I demonstrate that children of depressed mothers performed worse on measures of reading ability and math computation skills. Also, children living in neighborhoods higher in social capital performed better on the measure of math computation compared to children living in lower social capital neighborhoods. However, social capital was not associated with either of the measures of reading achievement. In addition, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was not significantly associated with any of the academic outcomes. I also did not find that social capital moderated the relationship between maternal depression and child academic skills.In the third study, I focus on the importance of neighborhood characteristics as predictors of depression among Latina mothers. I also investigated how neighborhood structural characteristics - socioeconomic disadvantage, residential stability and the percent of Latinos in the community, are associated with social capital. As expected, residential stability was positively, while socioeconomic disadvantage was negatively, associated with social capital. Contrary to my hypothesis about the protective effects of living in a neighborhood with a higher percent of co-ethnics, an ethnic enclave, the percent of Latinos in the community was negatively associated with social capital. However, as predicted, neighborhood social capital was negatively associated with depression for Latinas

A Laboratory-Based Study of the Relationship Between Childhood Abuse and Experiential Avoidance Among Inner-City Substance Users: The Role of Emotional Nonacceptance

Despite the theorized centrality of experiential avoidance in abuse-related psychopathology, empirical examinations of the relationship between childhood abuse and experiential avoidance remain limited. The present study adds to the extant literature on this relationship, providing a laboratory-based investigation of the relationships between childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, experiential avoidance (indexed as unwillingness to persist on 2 psychologically distressing laboratory tasks), and self-reported emotional nonacceptance among a sample of 76 inner-city treatment-seeking substance users. As hypothesized, results provide evidence for heightened experiential avoidance and emotional nonacceptance among individuals with moderate-severe sexual, physical, and emotional abuse (compared to individuals reporting none-low abuse). However, although emotional nonacceptance was associated with increased risk for experiential avoidance, it mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and experiential avoidance only for emotional abuse. As such, results suggest that one mechanism through which emotional abuse in particular leads to experiential avoidance is emotional nonacceptance. Findings suggest the utility of interventions aimed at decreasing experiential avoidance and promoting emotional acceptance among abused individuals

Temperamental and Environmental Risk Factors for Borderline Personality Disorder Among Inner-City Substance Users in Residential Treatment

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is widely considered the result of biological vulnerability and environmental adversity. Despite growing evidence for the role of several temperamental and environmental risk factors in the development of BPD, the unique contribution of each to the development of this disorder remains unclear. Furthermore, the extent to which these factors are associated with BPD among underserved and diverse populations is unknown. The current study examined the temperamental and environmental factors uniquely associated with BPD among a sample of 93 inner-city individuals receiving residential substance use treatment. Results indicate that BPD was associated with higher impulsivity and emotional instability/vulnerability, lower well-being, and several interpersonal manifestations of positive and negative temperament (i.e., greater alienation and lower achievement and social closeness). BPD was also associated with several forms of childhood maltreatment, including emotional and physical abuse and neglect. However, only emotional instability or vulnerability, impulsivity, and emotional abuse emerged as unique predictors of BPD status

Modeling the Relationship between Trauma and Psychological Distress among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Women.

This study investigated the association between cumulative exposure to multiple traumatic events and psychological distress, as mediated by problematic substance use and impaired psychosocial resources. A sample of HIV-positive and HIV-negative women were assessed for a history of childhood and adult sexual abuse and non-sexual trauma as predictors of psychological distress (i.e., depression, non-specific anxiety, and posttraumatic stress), as mediated by problematic alcohol and drug use and psychosocial resources (i.e., social support, self-esteem and optimism). Structural equation modeling confirmed that cumulative trauma exposure is positively associated with greater psychological distress, and that this association is partially mediated through impaired psychosocial resources. However, although cumulative trauma was associated with greater problematic substance use, substance use did not mediate the relationship between trauma and psychological distress

A multimodal assessment of the relationship between emotion dysregulation and borderline personality disorder among inner-city substance users in residential treatment

The concept of emotion dysregulation has been integrated into theory and treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD), despite limited empirical support. Expanding upon existing research on the relationship between emotion dysregulation and BPD, the present study utilized a multimodal approach to the assessment of emotion dysregulation (including two behavioral measures of the willingness to tolerate emotional distress, and a self-report measure of emotion dysregulation broadly defined) to examine the relationship between emotion dysregulation and BPD among inner-city substance users in residential treatment (n = 76, with 25 meeting criteria for BPD). Results provide laboratory-based evidence for heightened emotion dysregulation in BPD, extending extant research on BPD to underserved clinical populations. Specifically, the presence of a BPD diagnosis among a sample of inner-city inpatient substance users was associated with both higher scores on the self-report measure of emotion dysregulation and less willingness to tolerate emotional distress on the behavioral measures of emotion dysregulation. Moreover, both self-report and behavioral measures of emotion dysregulation accounted for unique variance in BPD status, suggesting the importance of utilizing comprehensive assessments of emotion dysregulation within studies of BPD. Findings suggest the need to further explore the role of emotion dysregulation in the development and maintenance of BPD among inner-city substance users in residential treatment.<br/