Citation

Epstein-Ngo Q, Maurizi LK, Bregman A, Ceballo R. Cultur. Divers. Ethnic Minor. Psychol. 2013; 19(1): 38-49.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues; American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/a0029753

PMID

23356355

Abstract

Among poor, urban adolescents, high rates of community violence are a pressing public health concern. This study relies on a contextual framework of stress and coping to investigate how coping strategies and involuntary stress responses may both mediate and moderate the relation between exposure to community violence and psychological well-being. Our sample consists of 223 ninth grade Latino adolescents from poor, urban families. In response to community violence, these adolescents reported using an array of coping strategies as well as experiencing a number of involuntary stress responses; the most frequent coping responses were turning to religion and seeking social support. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that involuntary stress responses mediated the relations between both witnessing or being victimized by violence and poorer psychological functioning, while coping strategies moderated these relations. These findings suggest that the negative psychological effects of exposure to community violence may, in part, be explained by involuntary stress responses, while religious-based coping may serve as a protective factor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en