Poster #92 - When Good Parents Meet Bad Neighbours: What Happens to their Teens?

• In Event: 2-002 - Special Poster Session 05 with Continental Breakfast Reception
  In Poster Session: PS 05 - Interdisciplinary Section

Integrative Statement

Studies have found that adolescents who have an insecure attachment with their parents are at an increased risk to develop both internalizing and externalizing problems (Dallaire & Weinraub, 2007; Ooi, Ang, Fung, Wong, & Cai, 2006). Similarly, exposure to environmental or neighborhood violence can also increase the frequency of internalizing and externalizing problems (Schwab-Stone, Koposov, Vermeiren, & Ruchkin, 2013; Xue, Leventhal, Brooks-Gunn, & Earls, 2005). However, it has not been widely investigated if exposure to community violence mediates the association between parent-child attachment and internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents.
The present study investigated the direct, as well as indirect, relation between attachment, adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, and exposure to community violence in a sample of 396 primarily White, middle-class adolescents aged 12-18 (M =14.64, SD = 1.52) recruited from extracurricular organizations in Ontario, Canada. Participants completed self-report measures of parental warmth, parental responsiveness, neighborhood violence, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (measuring hyperactivity, conduct, peer, and emotional problems along with prosocial behavior).
In accordance with previous research, we found that insecure attachment, exposure to community violence, and internalizing and externalizing problems, were significantly correlated in the expected directions (see Table 1). We then tested the indirect effect using 5000 bootstrapped samples in SPSS 25. Neighborhood violence was a significant mediator between parental warmth and neglect and the following adolescent mental health outcomes: emotional problems, (B = .037, SE = .016, 95% CI [.012, .074]), conduct problems (B = .022, SE = .011, 95% CI [.004, .049]), and peer problems (B = .029, SE = .012, 95% CI [.010, .059]). The indirect coefficient was not significant for the adolescent mental outcomes of hyperactivity (B = .022, SE = .014, 95% CI [-.001, .053]) and prosocial behavior (B = -.014, SE = .013, 95% CI [-.044, .008]). Neighborhood violence was a significant mediator between parent-child relationship structures and the following adolescent mental health outcomes: emotional problems (B = .016, SE = .007, 95% CI [.006, .033]), conduct problems (B = .011, SE = .005, 95% CI [.003, .024]), and peer problems (B = .015, SE = .006, 95% CI [.006, .029]). The indirect coefficient was not significant for the adolescent mental health outcomes of hyperactivity (B = .009, SE = .006, 95% CI [-.001, .022]) and prosocial behaviours (B = -.008, SE = .006, 95% CI [-.021, .002]).
Our results support a bioecological model of child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) whereby different environmental influences have separate, yet also shared, influences on child development. In particular, levels of neighborhood violence appear to mediate the effects of the parent-child relationship. Our data suggest that social influences need to consider multiple levels of environmental influence when trying to build resilience against both neighborhood violence and at-risk parent-child relationships.

Authors

• Kelsey Kapteyn, Lakehead University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anthony Volk, Brock University
  Presenting Author

• Prarthana Franklin, Brock University
  Non-Presenting Author