Friends Association of Richmond
Laura E. Plybon & Wendy Kliewer, Violence Coping Project, VCU Department of
Psychology
This research examined how perceived neighborhood stressors may impact the stress response of preadolescent youth residing in inner-city neighborhoods of Richmond, Virginia. We also explored contributions of the coping behaviors of rumination (i.e., emotional "dwelling" on stressful situation) and religious support as interacting factors between neighborhood stress and stress response. The sample consisted of 60 preadolescent youth, ages 9.17 years to 13 years (mean age 11.19, sd 1.14). Twenty-five (42%) participants were female and thirty-five (58%) were male. All youth resided in inner-city communities. Neighborhood stressors were assessed by both child and maternal perceptions of neighborhood risk factors (i.e., perception of crime, police support) and physiological stress response measured by saliva cortisol levels. Findings suggest that perceived neighborhood risk may influence child physiological stress responses and coping styles, and that gender of the child may play a strong interactional role in outcomes.
Please click here to view the Power Point presentation
Many communities, especially inner-city communities, are rife with stressors. Perceived neighborhood danger and/or economic stressors, such as chronic poverty, may abound in inner-city neighborhoods, which may in turn influence stress related outcomes in children and youth (Lepore, 1996). Chronic neighborhood stressors may be implicated in poor health outcomes among African American children; these begin in childhood and may predict cardiovascular disease in adulthood (Livingston, 1993). Therefore, an examination of potential chronic stressors within neighborhoods and their influence on child and adolescent health outcomes is crucial. In addition, understanding individual characteristics of the child that may protect or exacerbate contextual stressors is also important. Assessment of how environmental and individual effects interact and may effect child health outcomes could lead to more effective child and adolescent health preventative measures. We examined the following questions: 1) Does neighborhood stress impact physiological stress responses in youth? 2) Does neighborhood stress influence type of coping style used in response to stress? 3) Are there gender differences in physiological stress responses and coping styles? 4) Do rumination and religious coping styles buffer or exacerbate perceptions of neighborhood stress?
Site (Partner) Description
The Friends Association is a non-profit organization that offers a variety of social and educational services to children and families residing in Richmond City public housing. The Friends Association assisted with recruitment of families into this project. This partnership was developed through the Violence Coping Project (PI: Wendy Kliewer) with the focus being to assess the protective factors of families residing in high-crime neighborhoods.
Stress outcomes. Physiological stress in children was measured by saliva cortisol levels; higher cortisol levels indicated higher stress. The correlations between mother’s perception of police protection and cortisol levels were significant for both boys and girls. Mothers' reporting of dissatisfaction with police was associated with higher child cortisol levels. Maternal report of higher neighborhood crime was significantly associated with cortisol level for boys only, in that the higher the perception of crime reported by the mother, the higher stress levels for boys.
Religious coping and
rumination.
Mothers' perception of
neighborhood crime was associated with increased religious coping for boys but
not girls. Religious coping in this study meant that the child prayed or sought
support in his/her church or religious community when he/she had a problem. Boys
also noted lower religious coping and lowered rumination coping (i.e., thinking
about and emotionally dwelling on a problem) when their mothers reported lower
use of neighborhood support (i.e., not “getting together with neighbors”). Only one trend emerged for girls, in that girls ruminated
less when their mothers' reported less neighborhood drug activity.
Mediation and moderation
analyses. Mediation and
moderation analyses were conducted to assess potential linkages between
neighborhood factors, coping response, and stress hormone levels. Mediation
analysis requires a statistically significant relationship among three variables
being assessed. Regression analyses is used to identify whether a third variable
accounts for (mediates) the relationship between two significantly related
variables. If the relationship between the IV and the DV is no longer
significant when the third variable is entered into a regression, mediation has
occurred.
The triad of maternal
perceived crime, religious coping, and cortisol stress hormone responses was the
only triad found to be significant. This relationship was for boys only.
Mediational analysis examined whether crime increased boys' use of religious
coping which then made them physiologically stressed.
It was found that religious coping did not play a role in increasing
stress, but that neighborhood crime directly predicted higher mean cortisol
levels (stress measure) for boys, F (1,28) = 4.45, p < .05.
Moderation analyses were additionally conducted to assess whether the coping
variables “buffered” the effects of neighborhood risk factors. We were
interested in whether rumination or religious coping protected the youth from
neighborhood stressors. No
moderational analysis emerged as significant.
Higher maternal dissatisfaction with neighborhood police was related to higher mean cortisol levels for both genders, whereas maternal perceived higher crime was related to increased hormone levels for boys only. Past research (e.g., Van Staden, 1984) has shown that parents often allow boys more freedom to engage in social activities in the neighborhood, whereas girls tend to have more restrictions placed on their comings and goings in the neighborhood. Boys may be more exposed to activities – including violent activities – within the neighborhood that may impact their level of stress. Parent contact and interaction with neighbors may also impact boys’ coping responses. In this study, the mother’s lowered use of neighborhood support (i.e., not “getting together with neighbors”) was associated with decreased religious coping and decreased rumination for boys only. In addition, perceived crime was associated with increased religious coping for boys.
These findings suggests the following: 1) that mothers who don't get together often with neighbors may monitor, supervise, and provide support to their children, which leads to a decreased need for alternative support coping styles; 2) that neighborhood risk factors such as exposure to crime may directly and negatively effect boys coping and stress responses more so than girls; or 3) boys may rely on religious coping as a means of perceived support, and may utilize this type of coping when there is a perception of neighborhood risk (Chapman & Mullis, 2000).
First, it is important to acknowledge that neighborhood risk factor have an impact on the physiological responses in children, and that ongoing chronic neighborhood stress may impact the health of these youth in the long term. Practitioners should recognize that the neighborhood context provides a unique source of stress that may contribute to the child’s health and mental health concerns. The findings also support the idea that boys may be at special risk. This study suggests that boys may use religious coping as a means of support, especially within high crime neighborhoods. We did not find any moderating -- buffering -- effects of rumination or religious coping on stress. However, we do suggest that religious coping may provide a means of proactive coping for boys who live in higher crime neighborhoods. Further work needs to be done to see if religious coping may reduce negative behavioral (e.g.,acting out) or psychological (e.g., depression) outcomes in children, notably boys.
What can we do?
¨ Initiate community-wide programs that help reduce neighborhood crime and increase safety for adults and children.
¨ Make sure children in the community, especially boys, have adequate supervision and at least one adult to talk to.
¨ Limit children's exposure to neighborhood crime.
¨ Help children to adopt healthy coping styles. Religious coping for some children may give them solace.
First, the research suggests that stress response may be impacted by perceived neighborhood stress. Further work needs to be done to validate the physiological stress hormone findings and to further assess the impact of neighborhood stressors on hormonal and other physiological stress responses (i.e., increased blood pressure) in children. Second, research suggests that coping mechanisms may relate to stressors, and may vary according to gender. Further work needs to be done to assess a variety of adaptive and maladaptive coping styles and how they may buffer or exacerbate perceived stress.
Contact Information
Laura E. Plybon, Ph.D.
Research Associate
(804) 828-7061
s0leplyb@mail1.vcu.edu
Wendy Kliewer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
VCU Department of Psychology
P.I. Violence Coping Project
wkliewer@mail1.vcu.edu