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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.10.012 Byline: Nan S. Park (a), Beom S. Lee (b)(c), Fei Sun (d), Alexander T. Vazsonyi (e), John M. Bolland (f) Keywords: Antisocial behavior; Violence; African American adolescents; Pathways; Poverty; Longitudinal analysis Abstract: Antisocial behavior among youth remains a serious personal and social problem in the United States. The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the shape and number of developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior in a sample of poor, inner-city African American youth, and (2) test predictors of group membership and the developmental course of antisocial behaviors. Using growth mixture modeling, we examined predictors of antisocial behavior pathways and the likelihood of arrest in a sample of 566 poor, urban African American adolescents (ages 11 to 16). Three distinct trajectory classes of antisocial behavior were identified over a period of six years: one low-risk group (low steady) and two high-risk groups (incremental and high starter). The conditional probabilities for being arrested during ages 14-16 were 0.18 for the low steady class, 0.68 for the incremental class, and 0.31 for the high starter class. Prevention strategies for adolescents at high risk are discussed. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Social Work, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave. MGY 132, Tampa, FL 33620-6600, United States (b) Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612, United States (c) Department of Economics, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave. BSN 3403, Tampa, FL 33620, United States (d) Arizona State University, School of Social Work, Mail Code # 3251, 4701 W. Thunderbird RD., Glendale, AZ 85306, United States (e) Department of Human Development and Family Studies, 284 Spidle Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, United States (f) Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, RPHB 227, University of Alabama, 1530 3rd Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, United States Article History: Received 28 May 2009; Revised 19 October 2009; Accepted 20 October 2009

This article examines the psychological effects of poverty-stricken inner-city life on teenagers. The authors, questioning 2468 inner-city teenagers, maintain a sense of hopelessness was the most cited response by both female and male teenagers in regards to their living environment.

Purpose Evaluate the impact of social support and social context on suicide attempt in disadvantaged adolescents, and calculate that longitudinal risk of suicide attempt. Methods Seven thousand two hundred ninety-nine adolescents were used to evaluate the effect of social support and context on suicide attempt, and to estimate the overall risk of suicide attempt. Results Increased peer support reduced the risk of suicide attempt, and increased perceived inevitability of violence led to an increase in risk among 9-year-old children. As children age, the effect of overall peer support remains consistent, while there is a reduction in the effect of inevitability of violence. Approximately 36% of extremely impoverished adolescents attempt suicide by the age of 19. Conclusions The current study provides insight into the nature of suicide attempt within a grossly understudied population. Social support and social context have an important impact on suicidal behavior in extremely disadvantaged adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose African-American youth, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, evidence high rates of negative outcomes associated with three problem behaviors, conduct problems, risky sexual behavior, and substance use. This study used a contextually tailored version of problem behavior theory (PBT) to examine predictors of the simultaneous development of problem behaviors in this specific cultural group. Methods Sociocontextual and individual variables representing four PBT predictor categories, controls protection, support protection, models risk, and vulnerability risk, were examined as predictors of co-occurring problem behaviors among economically disadvantaged African-American adolescents (n = 949). Specifically, the likelihood of following three classes of multiple problem behavior trajectories spanning ages 12-18, labeled the "early experimenters," "increasing high risk-takers," and "adolescent-limited" classes, as opposed to a "normative" class, was examined. Results Among other findings, controls protection in the form of a more stringent household curfew at age 12 was related to a lower likelihood of being in the "early experimenters" and "increasing high risk-takers" classes. Conversely, vulnerability risk manifested as stronger attitudes of violence inevitability was associated with a higher likelihood of being in the "early experimenters" class. However, the PBT category of support protection was not associated with risk trajectory class. More distal neighborhood-level manifestations of PBT categories also did not predict co-occurring behavior problems. Conclusions Guided by an incorporation of contextually salient processes into PBT, prevention programs aiming to decrease co-occurring problem behaviors among low-income African-American adolescents would do well to target both proximal systems and psychological constructs related to perceived security throughout adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the concept of centrality has been well developed in the social networks literature, its empirical development has lagged somewhat. This paper moves a step in that direction by assessing the performance of four centrality models under a variety of known and controlled situations. It begins by examining the assumptions underlying each model, as well as its behavior in a community influence network. It then assesses the robustness and sensitivity of each model under conditions of random and systematic variation introduced into this network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of recent studies have addressed the informal social structure surrounding urban decision making, showing its implications for collective political action. This paper extends these analyses by asking a prior question: what factors affect the structure of political networks? Specifically, the paper develops a model suggesting how one such factor, perceptions of political leadership and the expectations of political conflict they may engender, affect the structure of urban agenda-setting networks. Data collected from six cities show perceptions of leadership stability to be strongly correlated with four structural characteristics of these networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether certain types of substances are differentially related to certain risky sexual behaviors (RSBs) within the same population and determines whether combination substance use (SU) has additive, redundant or antagonistic effects on RSBs. African-American youth aged 9-19 participated in a large, community-based survey assessing substance use and sexual behaviors. Multilevel modeling was used to predict the differential influence of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use on condom use measured in the past 90days and at last intercourse, sex while drunk/high, and number of sexual partners. Tests of the within-participant relations showed that participants increasing their SU over time concurrently increased their RSBs, establishing a strong link between the two behaviors (alcohol: condom β=-0.045, sex while drunk/high β=0.138, sex partners β=0.102; marijuana: condom β=-0.081, sex while drunk/high β=0.255, sex partners β=0.166; cocaine: condom β=-0.091, sex while drunk/high β=0.103, sex partners β=0.031; all p's<0.01). Tests of the between-participant relations showed that, generally, youth reporting less SU across their teenage years were also more likely to report fewer RSBs over this period (alcohol: condom β=-0.128, sex while drunk/high β=0.120, sex partners β=0.169; marijuana: condom β=-0.170, sex while drunk/high β=0.638, sex partners β=0.357; cocaine: condom β=-0.353; all p's<0.05). Moreover, the combination of some substances has unique redundant or antagonistic effects on RSB. Such findings support the consideration of type of SU, and particular combinations of substances, on RSBs in intervention development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study analyzed the relationships among adolescent delinquency, self-worth, peer influence, and family cohesion (i.e., maternal and paternal warmth). The longitudinal analysis identified how these relationships develop and change through adolescence. Using data from the Mobile Youth Survey, a 14-year longitudinal study of high-poverty, primarily Black American youths living in Alabama (N =5400), delinquency, self-worth, and peer influence were analyzed in linear growth models. Results from these three linear growth models are presented. Findings include a significant increase in delinquency over time for the adolescents in the study and significantly lower rates of delinquency overall for females than males. Delinquency was also found to have negative relationships to both parental warmth and self-worth, with higher levels leading to decreased delinquency. Peer influence was found to have a gender effect, with males exhibiting steady rates, while females exhibit an increase in peer influence over time. Furthermore, maternal warmth and self-worth are also found to increase the rates of peer influence as well as significantly increasing self-worth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Household member incarceration influenced youths' behavioral and criminal justice outcomes. • Youths' social climates and emotion regulation emerged as important mechanisms. • Yet these factors explained a small portion of the effect of household member incarceration. • Findings stress the need for additional research on the cj involvement of youths' broader networks. • Future research should focus in particular on the ways in which such involvement confers risk. Although research on the intergenerational consequences of criminal justice contact has focused primarily on parental incarceration, scholars have called for greater attention to the reverberating effects of other family members' entanglements with law enforcement on youth. Using longitudinal data from the Mobile Youth Survey (MYS), this study examines direct and indirect linkages between household member arrest and youth outcomes and considers the roles of social (parenting, peer normative climate) and emotional (anger expression) processes. Results suggest that household members' involvement with the criminal justice system has consequences for youth's behavioral and criminal justice outcomes. Moreover, although social and emotional processes appeared to "matter," they did not account for the negative outcomes associated with household member arrest. Results suggest the importance of adopting broader perspectives on family criminal justice contact that include attention to household member arrest as well as to both direct and indirect effects. Findings are discussed in terms of directions for future research and the need to specify mechanisms by which household member arrest may increase risk for adverse youth outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Adolescents with justice-involved families exhibit multiple indicators of PYD. • Individual, family, and community factors contribute to PYD. • PYD may protect youth from emotional and behavioral problems. • Interventions should not only reduce problems, but also build on youth assets. This study addresses recent calls for investigations of within-group variability and resilience among youth with justice-involved family members by examining the nature and correlates of positive youth development (PYD) among adolescents who have experienced the arrest of a household member. Using data from the Mobile Youth Survey, a community-based study of risk and resilience among predominantly African American and low-income youth, we use linear mixed models to examine how individual, family, and community factors contribute to positive youth development and to identify associations between PYD and indicators of internalizing symptoms and delinquent behaviors. Results suggest that maternal warmth, parental monitoring, participation in religious activities, sense of belonging at school, and neighborhood connectedness were positively associated with PYD. Results further suggest that positive youth development is inversely associated with internalizing symptoms and delinquency. Findings underscore the importance of adopting a positive youth development lens in research on adolescents with justice-involved family members and suggest the value of developing interventions that not only reduce problems but that also capitalize on and foster youth assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]