title: Examining the effects of emotional and cognitive desensitization to community violence exposure in male adolescents of color.
abstract: The current study examined pathways in a model of desensitization, the Pathologic Adaptation Model, in adolescent males of color. Specifically, the current study examined depressive symptoms and deviant beliefs as mediators of the association between community violence exposure and subsequent violent behavior. The current study included 250 African-American (67%) and Latino (33%) male adolescents (T1 mean age = 15.32) from the Chicago Youth Development Study. Consistent with the Pathologic Adaptation Model, results demonstrated that depressive symptoms mediated the association between the quadratic violence exposure term in middle adolescence and violent behaviors in late adolescence, but the direction of the mediation effect was dependent upon the levels of violence exposure in middle adolescence. However, deviant beliefs were not found to be a significant mediator. Emotional desensitization effects may increase the likelihood of violence perpetration in adolescent males exposed to community violence, and the implications for future research and intervention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago.
authors.forename: Noni K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Gaylord-Harden
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago.
authors.forename: Suzanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: So
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago.
authors.forename: Grace J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Curry School of Education, University of Virginia.
authors.forename: Patrick H
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5669-8442
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Tolan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D002641:Chicago; D003071:Cognition; D003469:Culture; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D000069581:Exposure to Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*