Family Interactions, Exposure to Violence, and Emotion Regulation: Perceptions of Children and Early Adolescents at Risk.

This study examined the protective nature of youth reports of family interactions in relation to perceived exposure to violence and anger regulation in 84 children and early adolescents (mean age of 10.5; 7-15 years old) primarily from ethnic minority groups and living in high-risk communities in a large southwestern city. Path analysis and bootstrapping methodology indicated that overall family system variables were primarily associated with anger regulation and exposure to violence through parenting behaviors. Specifically, perceptions of family cohesion and adaptability were indirectly associated with anger regulation through a positive association with parental support. Family cohesion and adaptability were indirectly associated with anger regulation and exposure to violence through parental supervision in different ways. Family cohesion was positively associated with parental supervision, whereas family adaptability was negatively associated with parental supervision. Implications are discussed for intervention and prevention programs aimed at youth residing in areas with economic disadvantage.Key Words: at-risk children and families, emotion regulation, exposure to violence, family system, parentingChildren and early adolescents in low-income urban neighborhoods are often exposed to high stress that has the potential to negatively impact their development. Exposure to community violence (Proctor, 2006) and disruption in emotional processes (Leventhal & BrooksGunn, 2000; Walton & Flouri, 2010) place children at risk for maladaptive outcomes (e.g., internalizing problems and aggressive and antisocial behavior). The ability to manage anger holds promise for favorable outcomes for children in high-risk contexts (Buckner, Mezzacappa, & Beardslee, 2003). Yet, exposure to violence shows a negative association with the ability of children to manage anger (Boxer, Edwards-Leeper, Goldstein, MusherEizenman, & Dubow, 2003; Boxer et al., 2008). Thus, central challenges for children and early adolescents residing in high-risk communities are regulating (or managing) emotions such as anger (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000) and protection from exposure to community violence (Proctor, 2006). Family interactions are important in socializing children and early adolescents to manage anger (Morris, Silk, Steinberg, Myers, & Robinson, 2007) and for protecting children against exposure to violence (Kennedy, Bybee, Sullivan, & Greeson, 2010). Family interactions, involving overall family systems qualities and parenting behavior (Henry, 1994; Henry, Robinson, Neal, & Huey, 2006; Henry, Sager, & Plunkett, 1996), may protect children and early adolescents against exposure to violence and foster anger regulation (Morris et al., 2007). But the protective nature of family interactions in relation to anger regulation and preventing exposure to violence in ethnic minority groups living in communities considered high risk (Morris et al., 2007; Proctor, 2006) is relatively unexplored. Thus, in the current study we developed and tested a theoretical model using reports from children and early adolescents (7-15 years old) living in high-risk communities to examine how selected overall family qualities and parenting behaviors were associated with anger regulation and exposure to violence.Exposure to Violence Among Children and Adolescents in High-Risk ContextsResearch indicates that children and early adolescents in low-income, urban neighborhoods are often exposed to high stress, in particular community violence (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004). Exposure to violence in children and early adolescents is associated with poor emotion regulation, psychosocial maladjustment, pessimistic expectations for the future, and symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (Boxer et al., 2003, 2008). The effects of exposure to community violence have been theorized to operate directly by causing stress reactions and also indirectly by shaping maladaptive social cognitive and emotion regulatory styles (Schwartz & Proctor, 2000). …