Adolescent Resilience: Promotive Factors That Inform Prevention

Resilience theory provides a framework for studying and understanding how some youths overcome risk exposure and guides the development of interventions for prevention using a strengths‐based approach. In this article, we describe basic concepts of the theory, such as promotive factors, and distinguish assets and resources that help youths overcome the negative effects of risk exposure. We also present three models of resilience theory—compensatory, protective, and challenge—and review empirical research on three promotive factors—ethnic identity, social support, and prosocial involvement—that include individual, family, and community levels of analysis and have modifiable qualities for informing interventions. Finally, we present examples of how research findings from the three promotive factors can be translated into interventions to enhance youth development.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101789/1/cdep12042.pd

Developmental transitions during adulthood and neighborliness: A multilevel cluster analysis

Neighborliness plays a critical role in promoting social integration, and is known to positively influence health and psychosocial adjustment. We examined variation in neighborliness based on developmental transitions as well as on the neighborhood context. We examined the direct and moderating role of neighborhood factors, to determine whether the neighborhood context modified the influence of developmental transitions on neighborliness. We analyzed data from a longitudinal study of Australian communities, in addition to census data. First, we analyzed developmental transition clusters. Next, we employed multilevel modeling to assess the impact of clusters and other key factors on neighborliness. We tested interactions to determine whether the influence of cluster membership on neighborliness was modified by the neighborhood. We found evidence for direct effects of cluster membership and structural factors on neighborliness. In addition, the neighborhood context modified the influence of cluster membership on neighborliness. Our findings underscore the importance of promoting neighborhood social engagement throughout the life course

From broken windows to busy streets: a community empowerment perspective

In the present article, we introduce a community empowerment perspective to understanding neighborhoods. A preponderance of literature exists on neighborhood risk factors for crime. Yet less is known about positive factors that make neighborhoods safe and desirable. We propose community empowerment as a conceptual foundation for understanding neighborhood factors that promote social processes, and ultimately, lead to an improvement in structural factors. We suggest that neighborhoods are empowered because they include processes and structures for positive social interactions to emerge and develop. We present busy streets as a mechanism that creates a positive social context, in which social cohesion and social capital thrive. Thus, empowered communities are characterized by climates that promote busy streets. Our article underscores the need to examine both the broader, structural context and social processes operating within this context. Such an integrative perspective is necessary to fully understand how to empower neighborhoods, particularly in the face of structural challenges

The protective role of ethnic identity for urban adolescent males facing multiple stressors

Having a connection to one’s ethnic heritage is considered a protective factor in the face of discrimination; however, it is unclear whether the protective effects are persistent across multiple stressors. Furthermore, the dimensions of ethnic identity that reflect group pride/connection (affirmation) and exploration of the meaning of group membership (achievement) may operate differently in the face of stress. The present study examined the moderating role of ethnic identity affirmation and achievement on concurrent and longitudinal relationships between exposure to stress (discrimination, family hardship, exposure to violence) and antisocial behavior in a sample of 256 Black and Latino male youth (70\ua0% Black) living in low-income urban neighborhoods. Using regression analysis, concurrent associations were examined at age 18, and longitudinal associations were tested 18\ua0months later. We found that, among youth experiencing discrimination, high levels of achievement and low levels of affirmation predicted greater aggressive behavior and delinquency. Low affirmation also predicted more criminal offending in the face of discrimination. The two dimensions operated similarly in the context of family stress, in which case high levels of affirmation and achievement predicted lower levels of antisocial behavior. The findings suggest a differential role of the two dimensions of ethnic identity with respect to discrimination; furthermore, the coping skills that may be promoted as youth make meaning of their ethnic group membership may serve as cultural assets in the face of family stress

Adolescent Family Conflict as a Predictor of Relationship Quality in Emerging Adulthood

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163650/2/fare12493_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163650/1/fare12493.pd

Exposure to violence during adolescence as a predictor of perceived stress trajectories in emerging adulthood

Early exposure to violence during adolescence is related to negative psycho-social outcomes later in life. In the present study, we examined the influence of cumulative exposure to violence during adolescence and trajectories of perceived stress in emerging adulthood in a sample of at-risk urban youth (N = 850; 80.1% African American; 50% female). Growth curve modeling indicated an overall decrease in reported stress as individuals aged. Baseline levels of violence exposure (M-age = 14.9) were associated with higher perceived stress levels in emerging adulthood (M-age = 20.1), but also slightly more negative perceived stress slopes from adolescence into emerging adulthood (M-age = 15.9-22.1). Individuals reporting increased violence exposure over time during adolescence also reported higher perceived stress levels in emerging adulthood (M-age = 20.1). Associations held after controlling for demographics and baseline functioning variables. The results suggest that violence exposure may disrupt normative adaptation to daily stressors in emerging adulthood. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The effects of produce gardens on neighborhoods: a test of the greening hypothesis in an industrial city

Researchers have found that gardens and landscaping designs can diffuse throughout neighborhoods. In the present study, we extend this research by examining if produce gardens on reclaimed vacant lots can have a radiating and positive, linear effect on the surrounding residential parcels. If well-maintained parcels tend to cluster together then we would expect that parcels proximal to a well-maintained produce garden would have better maintenance than parcels near an undeveloped vacant lot. We refer to this transformative process as the Greening Hypothesis. In the present study, we investigate yard maintenance observations of residential properties located near a produce garden, compared with those near an undeveloped vacant lot while controlling for residents' neighborhood perceptions and census demographic data. Our study area was urban and residential with higher than normal levels of property abandonment and urban blight. Our results, supporting the greening hypothesis, indicated that residential parcels proximal to produce gardens were better maintained than parcels near undeveloped vacant lots. Study implications support policies and programs which include greening initiatives as part of community development strategies. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The ecology of early childhood risk: A canonical correlation analysis of children's adjustment, family, and community context in a high-risk sample

The ecology of the emergence of psychopathology in early childhood is often approached by the analysis of a limited number of contextual risk factors. In the present study, we provide a comprehensive analysis of ecological risk by conducting a canonical correlation analysis of 13 risk factors at child age 2 and seven narrow-band scales of internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors at child age 4, using a sample of 364 geographically and ethnically diverse, disadvantaged primary caregivers, alternative caregivers, and preschool-age children. Participants were recruited from Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children sites and were screened for family risk. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that (1) a first latent combination of family and individual risks of caregivers predicted combinations of child emotional and behavioral problems, and that (2) a second latent combination of contextual and structural risks predicted child somatic complaints. Specifically, (1) the combination of chaotic home, conflict with child, parental depression, and parenting hassles predicted a co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and (2) the combination of father absence, perceived discrimination, neighborhood danger, and fewer children living in the home predicted child somatic complaints. The research findings are discussed in terms of the development of psychopathology, as well as the potential prevention needs of families in high-risk contexts