Community violence has profound implications for youth development. Youth who are exposed to community violence are at risk for a variety of psychological and behavioral difficulties, including poor academic performance, anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse. Yet, very little research examines why the impact of community violence exposure varies among children. The goal of this research is to identify the characteristics of after-school activities, within schools, homes, and neighborhoods, that protect adolescents from the adverse effects of community violence. By identifying factors that reduce adolescents' risk for violence exposure, this research can have a broad impact, informing after-school programming for poor, urban youth.
First, Dr. Ceballo will utilize longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). The PHDCN data was drawn from a random, multiracial sample of 6,228 children and mothers residing in Chicago. PHDCN data will allow Dr. Ceballo to examine the impact of mothers' exposure to community violence on maternal mental health and parenting approaches that can impact children's risk. Second, new survey data will be collected with 500 Latino adolescents. This survey will examine the relations among after-school activity participation, culturally-specific values like familismo (e.g., prioritizing family unity) and parenting approaches on Latino adolescents' violence exposure and psychological well-being. Finally, the third study will recruit a subsample of 100 adolescents to participate in a daily diary study of experiences with community violence. This study addresses one of the greatest limitations in the literature: a reliance on children's retrospective recall of violent events. This study will avoid the biases inherent in participants' recall of traumatic events and will investigate youths' experiences with violence as it occurs, providing unique data about the effects of violence exposure on youth.
