Delinquent Effects of Childhood Exposure to Interpersonal Violence: A Group-based Trajectory Analysis

• In Event: The Impact of Early Exposure to Violence and Adversities on Youth Development and Offending

Abstract

Using data from all three waves of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), the present papers attempts to evaluate the effects of exposure to interpersonal violence (IPV) in childhood on subsequent delinquency and violence. Past research has generally shown that IPV exposure is related to a vast array of negative life-course outcomes. However, children exposed to IPV often come from “multi-problem” families and reasons other than IPV exposure could account for the negative life consequences. Further, children exposed to IPV are impacted in different ways and to varying degrees. Those children not affected by IPV exposure in terms of externalizing behaviors will decrease the mean effect of IPV exposure on delinquency and violence, even if many other children are extremely impacted. The current study utilizes a mixture of propensity score matching and group-based trajectory analyses to eliminate potential confounding variables and to examine the differential developmental impact that childhood IPV exposure has on subsequent delinquency and violence.

Authors

• Henriikka Weir, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

• Catherine Kaukinen, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs