title: Emotional insecurity in the family and community and youth delinquency in Northern Ireland: a person-oriented analysis across five waves.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over one billion children are exposed worldwide to political violence and armed conflict. Currently, conclusions about bases for adjustment problems are qualified by limited longitudinal research from a process-oriented, social-ecological perspective. In this study, we examined a theoretically-based model for the impact of multiple levels of the social ecology (family, community) on adolescent delinquency. Specifically, this study explored the impact of children's emotional insecurity about both the family and community on youth delinquency in Northern Ireland.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the context of a five-wave longitudinal research design, participants included 999 mother-child dyads in Belfast (482 boys, 517 girls), drawn from socially-deprived, ethnically-homogenous areas that had experienced political violence. Youth ranged in age from 10 to 20 and were 12.18 (SD = 1.82) years old on average at Time 1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The longitudinal analyses were conducted in hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), allowing for the modeling of interindividual differences in intraindividual change. Intraindividual trajectories of emotional insecurity about the family related to children's delinquency. Greater insecurity about the community worsened the impact of family conflict on youth's insecurity about the family, consistent with the notion that youth's insecurity about the community sensitizes them to exposure to family conflict in the home.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that ameliorating children's insecurity about family and community in contexts of political violence is an important goal toward improving adolescents' well-being, including reduced risk for delinquency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Family Studies Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
authors.forename: E Mark
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Laura K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Geneseo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Merrilees
authors.affiliation: Department of Psyhcology, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Marcie C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Goeke-Morey
authors.affiliation: School of Law, Queens University, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shirlow
keywords: Political violence; community; delinquency; emotional security; family; mental health; social ecology