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Neighborhood research has increasingly emphasized the potential for contextual characteristics to moderate the effects of youths' experiences on their outcomes. Drawing on collective efficacy theory, we examine the variable consequences of youths' exposures to life-threatening violence across neighborhoods. We argue that strong community normative orientations supporting the control of violence diminish the negative effect of exposure to severe violence on subsequent mental health among urban youth. We also consider the extent to which the consequences of exposure to violence vary by gender. Employing data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we estimate a series of multivariate, multilevel linear models of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results indicate that, for girls, exposure to life-threatening violence (witnessing someone being attacked with a weapon or shot) increases both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, this effect achieves statistical significance only for girls who reside in neighborhoods with lower collective efficacy. For boys, our analyses offered weaker evidence of violence exposure effects on mental health. Implications for research on the social context of mental health are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a study of 1,344 urban adolescents, the authors examined the relation between participation in organized sports and juvenile delinquency. They compared youth who participated in sports to those who only participated in nonathletic activities and to those who did not participate in any organized activities. They also examined the indirect relations between sports and delinquency via 2 peer-related constructs—deviant peer affiliations and unstructured socializing. Finally, they examined the extent to which gender and prior externalizing problems moderated the direct and indirect relations between sports participation and delinquency. The authors found that the odds of nonviolent delinquency were higher among boys who participated in sports when compared to boys who participated only in nonathletic activities but not when compared to boys who did not participate in any organized activities. Deviant peer affiliations and unstructured socializing mediated the relation between sports participation and boys' nonviolent delinquency. Moreover, prior externalizing problems moderated the mediated path through peer deviance. The authors did not, however, find direct, mediated, or moderated relations between sports and boys' violent delinquency nor between spurts and girls' violent or nonviolent delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, the authors examined relations between educational, civic, and occupational success in young adulthood and the duration and intensity of participation in organized activities during high school. They also examined these relations as a function of sponsorship (i.e., school- vs. community-sponsored organized activities). They found that youths who participated in organized activities for 2 years demonstrated more favorable educational and civic outcomes in young adulthood than those who participated for 1 year. More intensive participation was also associated with greater educational, civic, and occupational success in young adulthood—particularly among youths who participated in activities for 2 years. Educational attainment often mediated the relations between temporal measures of participation and young adult civic and occupational outcomes. With the exception of analyses examining occupational success, findings varied little as a function of sponsorship. Of note, analyses revealed that both temporal measures of participation were positively associated with young adult outcomes as many as 8 years after high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, 306 individuals in 3 age groups-adolescents (13-16), youths (18-22), and adults (24 and older)-completed 2 questionnaire measures assessing risk preference and risky decision making, and 1 behavioral task measuring risk taking. Participants in each age group were randomly assigned to complete the measures either alone or with 2 same-aged peers. Analyses indicated that (a) risk taking and risky decision making decreased with age; (b) participants took more risks, focused more on the benefits than the costs of risky behavior, and made riskier decisions when in peer groups than alone; and (c) peer effects on risk taking and risky decision making were stronger among adolescents and youths than adults. These findings support the idea that adolescents are more inclined toward risky behavior and risky decision making than are adults and that peer influence plays an important role in explaining risky behavior during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]