The Role of Neighborhoods in the Crossover Youth Trajectory: Child Maltreatment to Youth Aggression and Delinquency

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Research substantiates that there is a strong predictive relationship between child maltreatment and youth aggression and delinquency. Though this link has been widely supported, there is an absence of knowledge about specific pathways that may lead to the identification of resiliency sources and interventions that could deter maltreated children from significant problems. Existing studies on ‘crossover youth’ have focused on a spectrum of individual and family level factors that may impact a maltreated child’s likelihood of developing externalizing behaviors. In comparison, the role of neighborhood factors in moderating this trajectory is relatively unknown.
An exploratory study using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II was conducted to examine the relationship between perception of neighborhood crime, safety, neighbor support, and parental involvement, and externalizing behaviors, for a sample of maltreated children and youth. Stepwise multiple linear regression methods found significant relationships between the change in perceived neighborhood crime and externalizing behavior, perceived neighbor support in mitigating the trajectory to increased delinquency, and the additive and interactional contribution of trauma symptoms over time. Future directions for research include development of a comprehensive transactional model that accounts for interactions within and between individual and contextual experiences.

Author

• Jacoba Rock, Pennsylvania State University