- Adversity in Context: Associations Between Family and Neighborhood Disadvantage, Parenting, and Child Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Exposure to adversity (e.g., community violence, parental incarceration) affects children in deep and enduring ways. Although sensitive and effective parenting may offer one source of protection in the face of adversity, parenting quality is often undermined by family- and community-level sources of stress. Using varied methodological approaches and spanning multiple age ranges, papers in this symposium offer evidence of associations among exposure to adversity, parenting, and child well-being. Study 1 reports on findings from a large twin study demonstrating that neighborhood disadvantage predicted youth exposure to community violence, which, in turn, predicted greater amygdala reactivity to cues of threat. Importantly parental nurturance moderated these pathways, with higher nurturance attenuating the link between neighborhood disadvantage and community violence exposure and between neighborhood disadvantage and amygdala reactivity. Leveraging data from a multi-wave longitudinal study, Study 2 found that paternal incarceration was associated with increased risk of childhood maltreatment by age 18, including exposure to parental abuse and neglect. Finally, building upon these individual papers, Study 3 offers a comprehensive meta-analytic perspective; collectively, findings from 147 distinct studies demonstrate that greater exposure to community violence was associated lower positive parenting, greater harsh/neglectful parenting, poorer parent-child relationship quality, and lower parental control. Across studies, moderators are considered at multiple levels that may explain why some children and families are resilient in the face of adversity. Taken together, the insights from these neural, behavioral, and meta-analytic data offer important implications for prevention, intervention, and policy aimed at supporting families across ecological levels.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Kristin L Bernard, Stony Brook University

Discussant

• Luke W. Hyde, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Individual Presentations

• Exposure to Community Violence as a Mechanism Linking Neighborhood Disadvantage to Amygdala Reactivity and the Protective Role of Parental Nurturance - Presenting Author: Gabriela Lydia Suarez, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor; S. Alexandra Burt, Michigan State University; Arianna Gard, University of Maryland - College Park; Kelly Klump, Michigan State University; Luke W. Hyde, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Paternal and Maternal Incarceration Influences on Childhood Abuse and Neglect: A Longitudinal Investigation of School Factors as Mediators and Moderators - Presenting Author: Holly Foster, Texas A&M University - College Station; John Hagan; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University

• Exposure to Community Violence and Parenting Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis - Presenting Author: Daneele Thorpe, Stony Brook University; Rebecca Mirhashem, Stony Brook University; Jill Smokoski, Stony Brook Unviersity; Tori Pena; Kristin L Bernard, Stony Brook University