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Polyvictimization, Related Symptoms, and Familial and Neighborhood Contexts as Longitudinal Mediators of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Violence Exposure Across Adolescence

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Abstract

African American and Hispanic adolescent experience more violence exposure relative to White youth. The present study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), delinquency, earlier victimization, and familial and neighborhood factors in disparities in future victimization. The study utilized data from the National Survey of Adolescents-Replication (N = 3,312), which consists of three waves of data collected approximately 1 year apart. A series of path models, tested polyvictimization, PTSS, delinquency, familial socioeconomic factors, and neighborhood safety as mediators of disparities in new polyvictimization. All cross-lagged and autoregressive paths positively predicted past-year polyvictimization and mediated longitudinal disparities. Familial socioeconomic variables and neighborhood safety mediated initial violence exposure disparities. Overall, results indicate that prior violence exposure, related mental health symptoms, and familial and neighborhood factors account for significant portions of disparities in new violence exposure across adolescence.

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  1. Alternate models were examined in which the direction of the paths were reversed (e.g., Wave 2 PTSS predicting Wave 2 violence exposure), but evidenced poorer model fit. Additionally, models with correlations (i.e., non-directional paths) between all within-wave variables did not significantly improve model fit. Thus, the model with predictive paths from violence exposure to within-wave symptoms was retained.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant 1R01 HD046830-01. Preparation of the manuscript was supported in part by Grant R01DA025616-04S1 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and 1U54GM115458-01 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH. Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agencies acknowledged. Data will be made available upon request to the corresponding author and original study principal investigators (Kilpatrick & Saunders).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Institute for Ethnic Studies, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 317 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA

    Arthur R. Andrews III

  2. College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Cristina M. López

  3. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Alan Snyder

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Benjamin Saunders & Dean G. Kilpatrick

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  1. Arthur R. Andrews III
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Andrews, A.R., López, C.M., Snyder, A. et al. Polyvictimization, Related Symptoms, and Familial and Neighborhood Contexts as Longitudinal Mediators of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Violence Exposure Across Adolescence. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 679–692 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0842-2

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