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Abstract
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AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT:
A growing number of youths in America are being influenced by exposure to community violence. The national growing number of incidents of community violence is dramatically increasing the number of youths that are exposed to community violence. Hence, it has become a focus of research to determine the psychological manifestations of exposure to violence. Secondary to identifying the psychological consequences of exposure to community violence, it is important to identify intervening variables that influence the relation between exposure to violence and psychological outcomes. This study focused on establishing a relation between exposure to community violence and depression, and examining authoritative parenting style as a moderating variable. Self-report data was used from a sample of inner-city African American adolescents residing in Chicago Illinois (ages 11-15). The initial hypothesis proposed that adolescents reporting higher levels of exposure to violence would report higher levels of depressive symptoms. In addition, it was hypothesized that adolescents reporting higher levels of exposure to violence would report lower levels of authoritative parenting style used in the home. Lastly, it was suggested that authoritative parenting style would moderate the relation between exposure to violence and depression. As anticipated, there was a significant relation between exposure to violence and depression, particularly when anxiety was incorporated as an element of assessing depression. The relation between reported depressive symptoms and authoritative parenting was also found to be significant such that the more depressive symptoms reported the lower the reported levels of authoritative parenting used in the home. However, authoritative parenting style did not moderate the relation between exposure to violence and reports of depressive symptoms. Additional analyses were conducted to test the possibility that authoritative parenting style mediates the relation between exposure to violence and depression and this also did not prove to be true. Further analyses were conducted to assess the relation between additional parenting styles (authoritarian and permissive parenting styles) and reports of depressive symptoms. These post hoc analyses revealed a positive relation between authoritarian parenting style and reports of depressive symptoms, such that higher reports of depressive symptoms were related to higher reports of authoritarian parenting style. The exception to this pattern was that both authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were significantly inversely related to the Anhedonia scale. Lastly, neither of these two parenting styles provided a moderating effect on the relation between exposure to violence and reports of depressive symptoms. Given the relation that exists between exposure to violence and depression, it continues to be important to identify variables that have an impact on that relation. Although the authoritative parenting style did not prove to have a moderating effect on the relation between exposure to violence and depression, findings do highlight the need for future research targeting aspects of various parenting styles that may effectively buffer the relation between exposure to violence and depression. (Abstract Adapted from Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, 2001. Copyright © 2001 by William M. Barnes; University Microfilms International)
Illinois
Urban Violence
Urban Youth
African American Child
African American Juvenile
African American Witness
Exposure to Violence
Witnessing Community Violence
Witnessing Violence Effects
Parental Supervision
Parental Authoritarianism
Parenting Practices
Parent Child Relations
Family Relations
Psychological Victimization Effects
Child Depression
Child Development
Child Witness
Child Adjustment
Juvenile Depression
Juvenile Adjustment
Juvenile Development
Juvenile Witness
Youth Development
Late Childhood
Early Adolescence
Depression Causes
Emotional Adjustment
Witness Adjustment
Coping Skills
08-03 |