What Happens After School? Linking Latino Adolescents' Activities and Exposure to Community Violence

Adolescents' exposure to community violence and associations with after-school activities across two samples

INTRODUCTION

Exposure to community violence (ECV) continues to be a major public health problem among urban adolescents in the United States. We sought to identify subgroups of adolescents' ECV and examine how after-school activities are related to exposure subgroups across two samples.

METHODS

In Study 1 there were 1432 adolescents (Cohort 9 n = 717, Mage = 11, and Cohort 12 n = 715, Mage = 14; 52% boys) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (1994-2002). Study 2 had a more recent sample of 537 adolescents (Mage = 16 years; 54% girls) from the After-School Activity Study (ASAS; 2015-2017) in Chicago and Detroit.

RESULTS

Exploratory latent class analyses yielded a three-class solution for Study 1: a "No ECV" class (44%); a "Low ECV" class (36%); and a "High Exposure" class (14%). In Study 2, a four-class solution was the best fit with a "No ECV" class (33%), a "Moderate Witness/Low Victim" class (36%), a "High Witness/Moderate Victim" class (19%), and a "High ECV" class (11%). Home-based activities appeared to be protective against high ECV for adolescents in Study 2. School-based activities were associated with higher ECV across both samples, but community-based activities were only associated with greater violence exposure in Study 1. Adolescents' unstructured socializing in both studies was associated with higher odds of ECV.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that subgroups of adolescents can be identified based on ECV and highlight the complexity of after-school activities as risk and protective factors in both past and more recent contexts.

The Impact of Major Earthquakes on Students' Emotional Distress and Internalizing Symptoms, Externalizing Behaviors, and Coping During the Implementation of keepin' it REAL-Mexico

This article reports on effects of two earthquakes in Mexico on adolescents attending middle school. The earthquakes struck in close succession during the implementation of a school-based prevention program, providing an opportunity to assess emotional distress due to the earthquakes and whether the life skills taught in the program affected how students coped with the natural disaster. The objectives were to (1) evaluate the earthquakes' impact on students' distress; (2) assess if distress is associated with internalizing symptomology and externalizing behaviors; and (3) investigate if students receiving the original and adapted versions of the intervention coped better with the events. A Mexico-US research team culturally adapted keepin' it REAL to address connections between substance use among early adolescents in Mexico and exposure to violence. A random sample of public middle schools from three cities (Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey), stratified by whether they held morning or afternoon sessions, was selected. A total of 5522 7th grade students from 36 schools participated in the study. Students answered pretest and posttest questionnaires; the latter assessed earthquake-related distress and coping strategies. Earthquake-related distress was associated with all measures of undesired internalizing symptomology and externalizing behaviors. Compared to controls, students in the adapted intervention reported less aggressive and rule-breaking externalizing behavior and less violence perpetration. However, these intervention effects were not moderated by the level of earthquake-related distress, and they were not mediated by positive or negative coping. The findings have implications for prevention intervention research and policy as natural and human-made disasters occur more often.

Adolescents in the Community: Extracurricular Activities and Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment and participation in extracurricular activities are two common experiences for adolescents, yet little research examines the interplay between these two phenomena, particularly among low-income, racial/ethnic minority adolescents. This study examined whether participation in four types of extracurricular activities-school-based, structured community-based, unstructured community-based, and home-based-was associated with adolescents' PTSD and depressive symptoms over time, and whether those relations were mediated by neighborhood-based sexual harassment. Participants were 537 adolescents who were on average 15.6 years old, 54% girls, and majority Latino/a (n = 416; 77.5%). Path analyses revealed a significant indirect effect between unstructured community-based activities, but not structured community-based, school- nor home-based extracurricular activities and PTSD symptoms via sexual harassment. The findings point to the importance of examining how unstructured community-based extracurricular activities may increase neighborhood risks for adolescents, and the need for creating opportunities for adolescents to engage in structured and well supervised after-school extracurricular activities.

Do after-school activities help mitigate the negative impact of community violence exposure? A person-centered approach

The current study used a person-centered approach to identify classes of after-school activities that may reduce the harmful effects, including anxiety and depression, of community violence exposure (CVE) in Latino youth. Participants in the current study included 144 students (54.2% male, ages 14-19) who were recruited from a charter high school in a large, Midwestern city. Students provided information on after-school activities, CVE, and internalizing symptoms. Indices supported a two-class model. Classes were characterized by students who reported high participation in extracurricular activities at school (Class 1) and students who reported spending more time completing after school (Class 2). No between-class differences emerged in anxiety or depression symptoms and class membership did not moderate the relationship between CVE and internalizing symptoms. Findings provide a description of Latino youths' after-school activities and support an individualized, person-centered approach to understanding the risk and protection of environmental factors.

Injury by knife crime amongst children is associated with socioeconomic deprivation: an observational study

PURPOSE

Children who live in areas of socioeconomic deprivation may be at higher risk of being victims of violent crime such as knife wounds. The current study investigated whether socioeconomic disparity was associated with higher risk of knife crime.

METHODS

An observational study included patients aged ≤ 17 years at a UK Major Trauma Centre injured by knife trauma from 2016 to 2022. Indices of deprivation were recorded according to the zip code of residence and compared with those of all of England. These included Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD); income; employment; education and skills; health and disability; crime; barriers to housing and services; living environment; and Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI).

RESULTS

There were 139 patients (96% male) with median age of 16 years. When compared with the whole of England, patients had worse indices of IMD (p = 0.021); income (p < 0.001); employment (p < 0.001); education and skills (p < 0.001); health and disability; and IDACI (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in indices of crime, barriers to housing and services or living environment.

CONCLUSIONS

Paediatric knife injury was associated with poor socioeconomic status in multiple domains. Focussed efforts to address socioeconomic disparities should be a priority as a public health measure for vulnerable children.