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Reinforcement Sensitivity and Risk for Psychopathology Following Exposure to Violence: A Vulnerability-Specificity Model in Latino Youth

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Abstract

Urban Latino youth are exposed to high rates of violence, which increases risk for diverse forms of psychopathology. The current study aims to increase specificity in predicting responses by testing the hypothesis that youths’ reinforcement sensitivity—behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral approach (BAS)—is associated with specific clinical outcomes and increases risk for the development of such problems following exposure to violence. Utilizing a short-term longitudinal design, Latino youth (N = 168) provided reports of BIS/BAS and emotional/behavioral problems at Time 1, exposure to violence between Time 1 and Time 2, and clinical symptoms at Time 2. Results suggested that reinforcement sensitivity moderated the relation between violence exposure and psychopathology, such that increasing levels of BIS were associated with elevated risk for internalizing and posttraumatic stress symptoms following exposure to violence whereas BAS increased risk for externalizing problems. The importance of building on existing knowledge to understand minority youth psychopathology is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Dissertation Research Grant from the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS) and by a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (5T32MH067763). We thank Drs. Andrew Fuligni, Jaana Juvonen, and Jill Waterman for their invaluable assistance in the development of this project. We also thank Yela Dirlam, Suzanne Blake, Elssy Gudino-Ramirez, and the families, teachers, and school personnel who made this research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Omar G. Gudiño & Anna S. Lau

  2. Division of Mental Health Services and Policy Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Erum Nadeem

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sheryl H. Kataoka

  4. New York University Child Study Center, 215 Lexington Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Omar G. Gudiño

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  1. Omar G. Gudiño
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  2. Erum Nadeem
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  3. Sheryl H. Kataoka
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  4. Anna S. Lau
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Correspondence to Omar G. Gudiño.

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Gudiño, O.G., Nadeem, E., Kataoka, S.H. et al. Reinforcement Sensitivity and Risk for Psychopathology Following Exposure to Violence: A Vulnerability-Specificity Model in Latino Youth. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43, 306–321 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0266-x

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