Protecting Youth Against Exposure to Violence: Intersections of Race/Ethnicity, Neighborhood, Family, and Friends

Youths’ exposure to violence (ETV) can have damaging effects especially in relation to the development of problem behaviors and psychological functioning. The devastating effects of exposure have also been found to vary by race and ethnicity. Though affirmative parenting can protect against ETV, researchers have yet to focus on the value of assessing different family management strategies and how these parenting practices may differ by race or ethnicity. Further, there is scant research on the nexus between protective family management strategies, peer relationships, and neighborhood characteristics, all of which influence ETV. In the current study, we account for these various contexts and youth covariates of ETV and examine how they work together in predicting ETV. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we employ hierarchical linear modeling to test the protective effects of various parenting strategies against ETV among African American, Hispanic, and White youth aged 9–19.