Hyperarousal and hypervigilance in African American male adolescents exposed to community violence

Parenting practices as a buffer in the relationship between exposure to community violence and bullying in Mexican adolescents

Multiple studies have shown that adolescents exposed to community violence are likely to engage in bullying behaviors. However, we still need to understand which variables can help reduce the influence of community violence exposure (CVE) on bullying. To investigate this question, a study was conducted with a sample of 568 Mexican adolescents, comprising 276 (48.6%) males and 292 (51.4%) females aged 12 to 16 years old (M age = 13.7 years, SD = 0.82). The study examined how parental support (PS) and parental induction to justice sensitivity (JS) can moderate the relationship between CVE and bullying. The study used structural equation modeling with latent variables. The results showed that CVE was positively associated with bullying, whereas PS and the induction to perpetrator JS were negatively associated. The moderation analysis suggests that the relationship between CVE and bullying was weaker among adolescents who received high PS. On the other hand, low and high parental induction to JS had the same moderating effect. Based on the findings, parental practices are critical when developing preventive programs to reduce the harmful effects of CVE on bullying behavior.

Experience-dependent neurodevelopment of self-regulation in adolescence

Adolescence is a period of rapid biobehavioral change, characterized in part by increased neural maturation and sensitivity to one's environment. In this review, we aim to demonstrate that self-regulation skills are tuned by adolescents' social, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts. We discuss adjacent literatures that demonstrate the importance of experience-dependent learning for adolescent development: environmental contextual influences and training paradigms that aim to improve regulation skills. We first highlight changes in prominent limbic and cortical regions-like the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex-as well as structural and functional connectivity between these areas that are associated with adolescents' regulation skills. Next, we consider how puberty, the hallmark developmental milestone in adolescence, helps instantiate these biobehavioral adaptations. We then survey the existing literature demonstrating the ways in which cultural, socioeconomic, and interpersonal contexts drive behavioral and neural adaptation for self-regulation. Finally, we highlight promising results from regulation training paradigms that suggest training may be especially efficacious for adolescent samples. In our conclusion, we highlight some exciting frontiers in human self-regulation research as well as recommendations for improving the methodological implementation of developmental neuroimaging studies and training paradigms.

Differential psychophysiological responses associated with decision-making in children from different socioeconomic backgrounds

This study examined how socioeconomic status (SES) influences on decision-making processing. The roles of anticipatory/outcome-related cardiac activity and awareness of task contingencies were also assessed. One hundred twelve children (Mage  = 5.83, SDage  = 0.32; 52.7% female, 51.8% low-SES; data collected October-December 2018 and April-December 2019) performed the Children's Gambling Task, while heart rate activity was recorded. Awareness of gain/loss contingencies was assessed after completing the task. Distinct decision-making strategies emerged among low and middle/high-SES children. Despite similar awareness levels between SES groups, future-oriented decision-making was linked solely to the middle/high-SES group. Somatic markers did not manifest unequivocally. However, contrasting cardiac patterns were evident concerning feedback processing and the association between anticipatory activity and awareness (low: acceleration vs. middle/high: deceleration). Results are interpreted from an evolutionary-developmental perspective.

Trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and violence in the prison population: prospective cohort study of sentenced male prisoners in the UK

BACKGROUND

Violence is a common problem in prisons. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a prevalent disorder in prison populations, has been identified as a risk factor for violent behaviour in community and military populations. Although cross-sectional associations between PTSD and prison violence have been documented, prospective cohort studies are required.

AIMS

To investigate whether PTSD is an independent risk factor for prison violence, and examine the potential role of PTSD symptoms and other trauma sequelae on the pathway from trauma exposure to violent behaviour in prison.

METHOD

A prospective cohort study was conducted in a large, medium security prison in London, UK. A random sample of sentenced prisoners arriving into custody (N = 223) took part in a clinical research interview, which assessed trauma histories, mental disorders including PTSD, and other potential sequelae of trauma (anger, emotion dysregulation). Incidents of violent behaviour were measured with prison records covering the 3 months after reception into custody. Stepped binary logistic regression and a series of binary mediation models were performed.

RESULTS

Prisoners who met current (past month) criteria for PTSD were more likely to engage in violent behaviour during the first 3 months of imprisonment, after adjusting for other independent risk factors. The relationship between lifetime exposure to interpersonal trauma and violent behaviour in custody was mediated by total PTSD symptom severity. Hyperarousal and negatively valenced cognitive and emotional appraisal symptoms were particularly implicated in this pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

The identification and treatment of PTSD has the potential to reduce violence in prison populations.

A trauma-informed approach to understanding firearm decision-making among Black adolescents: Implications for prevention

Firearm violence remains a public health crisis in marginalized, urban communities, with Black adolescents bearing the burden of firearm homicides and injuries. As such, the prevention of firearm violence among adolescents has moved to a high priority of the U.S. public health agenda. The current paper reviews recent literature to highlight the heterogeneity in firearm behavior among Black adolescents and underscore the need for additional research on decision-making and firearm behavior to better understand how adolescents make decisions to acquire, carry, and use firearms. Through a discussion of the disproportionate levels of trauma exposure and trauma symptoms experienced by Black adolescents, the current paper also proposes a trauma-informed approach to understanding decision-making for risky firearm behavior. We discuss the broader impacts of this approach, including the development of a more comprehensive and contextually relevant understanding of the variability in risky firearm behavior and improvements in risk screening capabilities and preventive intervention strategies.

Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Foster Care: An Evidence-Based Theoretical Conceptual Model of Disproportionality and Psychological Comorbidities

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are overrepresented in the foster care system and experience greater foster-care-related stressors than their non-SGM peers. These factors may further elevate their risk of anxiety/depressive, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-harm, and suicidality. The system currently produces unequal and disproportionate adverse mental health outcomes for SGMY and needs points of intervention to disrupt this status quo. This article provides an empirically grounded conceptual-theoretical model of disproportionate representation and burden of psychological comorbidities experienced by SGMY in the foster care system. We apply findings from an integrated literature review of empirical research on factors related to overrepresentation and mental health burden among SGMY to minority stress theory to explicate how and why the foster care system exacerbates mental health comorbidities for SGMY. Searches were conducted in June 2020 in PubMed using MeSH terms and title/abstract terms for foster care, sexual or gender minorities, and psychological comorbidities. Inclusion criteria are studies conducted in the United States, published in English, focused on mental illness, and published between June 2010 and 2020. Developmental/intellectual and eating disorders were excluded. The initial search returned 490 results. After applying inclusion criteria, 229 results remained and are utilized to build our conceptual-theoretical model. We assert that the phenomenon of disproportionate psychological comorbidities for SGMY in foster care is best represented as a complex and dynamic system with multiple feedback loops. Extant empirical and theoretical literature identifies three critical areas for intervention: family acceptance, community belonging and queer chosen/constructed family, and affirming and nondiscriminatory child welfare policy.

Anger and Attention Problems as Mechanisms Linking Maltreatment Subtypes and Witnessed Violence to Social Functioning Among Children in Out-of-Home Care

Research has consistently shown that child maltreatment and witnessed violence lead to disrupted patterns of social functioning, yet the mechanisms underlying these pathways remain unclear. This cross-sectional study evaluated whether anger and/or attention problems mediated the links from abuse, neglect, and witnessed violence to peer problems and aggressive behavior. Participants included a diverse sample of 470 children (ages 8-11; 52.1% boys) living in out-of-home care. Subtype and severity of maltreatment exposure were coded using Child Protection Services' intake reports and court records. Witnessed violence and anger were assessed using child-reports, and caregivers provided ratings of attention problems and social functioning. Indirect effects were tested using a series of structural equation path analysis models. Results indicated that anger fully mediated the links from witnessed violence to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. Further, attention problems fully mediated the links from physical abuse and physical neglect to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. These findings highlight the need for interventions to target anger regulation and attentional control among children in out-of-home care in order to mitigate their risk for social maladjustment.

Efficacy to avoid violence and parenting: A moderated mediation of violence exposure for African American urban-dwelling boys

We took a risk and resilience approach to investigating how witnessing physical violence influences adolescent violent behaviors overtime. We proposed efficacy to avoid violence as a major path of influence in this negative trajectory of adolescent development. We also focus on the protective roles of parenting behaviors for African American boys living in disadvantaged contexts. Most of our sample of 310 African American adolescent males (M age = 13.50, SD = .620) had experienced significant amounts of violence, but they also reported continued efficacy to avoid violence. We tested a first stage dual moderated mediation model and found that higher levels of witnessing violence lead to more violent behavior and less efficacy to avoid violence, and that efficacy was the mediator in that link. Youth who witness more violence may feel that engagement in violence is inescapable and thus may themselves end up engaging in it. These problematic long-term trajectories were moderated by parent's communication about violence and monitoring revealing possible protections for youth, and an enhancement of youths' internal strengths. Our findings propose pathways that can inform interventions that may protect African American adolescent boys against the vicious cycle of exposure to, and acts of, violence.

Examining the psychometric properties of the PCL-5 in a black community sample using item response theory

Black Americans are more likely to be exposed to certain types of traumatic events and experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to other racial groups. Consequently, sound assessment of PTSD in this underserved and understudied population is necessary to develop and accurately answer research questions about etiology and intervention efficacy. However, the item-level psychometric properties of one of the most commonly used assessment tools, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), has yet to be examined among Black Americans. To address this gap, we used item response theory (IRT) to assess item difficulty and discrimination in a sample of Black American adults (n = 307). We employed a graded response model with all 20 items of the PCL-5 loading on to a latent PTSD factor. At clinically significant levels of PTSD, the most discriminating items were flashbacks, inability to experience positive emotions, and nightmares and the least discriminating items were cued emotional distress, diminished interest, and hypervigilance. These results emphasize the importance of flashbacks, inability to experience positive emotions, and nightmares and deemphasize the importance of hypervigilance and sleep difficulties when assessing for clinically significant symptoms of PTSD in Black Americans. Treatment implications include a nuanced approach towards hypervigilance.

Black Emotions Matter: Understanding the Impact of Racial Oppression on Black Youth's Emotional Development: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression During Adolescence: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression During Adolescence

Black US Americans' emotions are subject to stereotypes about the anger and aggression of Black people. These stereotypes are readily applied to Black adolescents' emotions. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to operationalize racial oppression in the emotional lives of Black adolescents through an application of García Coll et al.'s (1996) ecological model for minority youth development. We specify emotionally inhibitive features of Black adolescents' schools, the adaptive culture of Black Americans in the United States that responds to emotional inhibition, Black families' emotion socialization processes, and Black adolescents' emotional flexibility behaviors. Throughout, we integrate findings from research on Black adolescents' emotional adjustment with research on cultural values, emotion and racial socialization, school-based racial experiences, and theory on emotion and cultural navigation.

Measuring the biological embedding of racial trauma among Black Americans utilizing the RDoC approach

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative aims to understand the mechanisms influencing psychopathology through a dimensional approach. Limited research thus far has considered potential racial/ethnic differences in RDoC constructs that are influenced by developmental and contextual processes. A growing body of research has demonstrated that racial trauma is a pervasive chronic stressor that impacts the health of Black Americans across the life course. In this review article, we examine the ways that an RDOC framework could allow us to better understand the biological embedding of racial trauma among Black Americans. We also specifically examine the Negative Valence System domain of RDoC to explore how racial trauma is informed by and can help expand our understanding of this domain. We end the review by providing some additional research considerations and future research directives in the area of racial trauma that build on the RDoC initiative.