The Direct and Indirect Associations Between Childhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Adolescent Gun Violence.

• NCJ Number: 254348
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Dated: 2019
• Author(s): Jordan. Beardslee; Meagan Docherty; Edward Mulvey; Dustin Pardini
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 96-MU-FX-0012
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with adolescent gun violence, and if so, whether early symptoms of conduct disorder and/or exposure to delinquent peers accounted for the linkage.

Abstract

Participants were 503 predominately Black and White boys who were recruited in 1st grade from Pittsburgh public schools. Multi-informant assessments were conducted regularly from approximately ages 7 to 20. A latent socioeconomic disadvantage factor was estimated with census-tract and parent-reported data when boys were about age 71/2. Latent growth curve models assessed parent/teacher-reported conduct problems and youth-reported peer delinquency from about ages 71/2 to 10. The outcome was youth-reported engagement in gun violence by about age 20. The study also controlled for race. Analyses examined whether the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent gun violence was mediated through early conduct problems and/or increased exposure to delinquent peers. Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with adolescent gun violence, and some of this effect was mediated through peer delinquency and conduct problems. Specifically, childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with greater affiliation with delinquent peers in early childhood, and early peer delinquency promoted a greater increase in conduct problems across childhood; and these conduct problems, in turn, led to an increased risk for adolescent gun violence. In summary, this study found that early socioeconomic disadvantage was directly and indirectly related to adolescent gun violence. Results suggest that interventions designed to reduce conduct problems and deviant peer group affiliation in childhood might reduce youth-involved gun violence in impoverished neighborhoods. (publisher abstract modified)