Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-6423-7221

Defense Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Terri Sullivan, PhD

Second Advisor

Wendy Kliewer, PhD

Third Advisor

Kristina Hood, PhD

Fourth Advisor

Cecelia Valrie, PhD

Fifth Advisor

Nicholas Thomson, PhD

Abstract

Firearm violence is a public health crisis in the United States that disproportionately impacts African American adolescents and families living in economically marginalized communities. The current firearm violence exposure literature includes a limited focus on the (a) the identification of risk and promotive factors that influence the likelihood of exposure to community firearm violence, (b) is cross-sectional, (c) focuses on outcomes of firearm violence exposure, and (d) does not examine bi-directional relations to determine if risk and promotive factors are causes and/or consequences of firearm violence exposure. This gap in research is further exacerbated by the limited focus on African American, early adolescent samples who reside in urban low-income settings. Secondary data analyses were used to test study aims in a sample of African American early adolescents from an urban low-income community. A subsample of a longitudinal school-based data set (N = 479, ages 10-17, 100% African American) were used in the current study, which included a sample of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who completed surveys at two time points (Fall, Spring). This study addressed prior study limitations by (1) examine the degree to which modifiable peer and family factors predict changes in exposure to community firearm violence from Fall to Spring, (2) the extent to which exposure to community firearm violence predicts changes in peer and family factors from Fall to Spring, and (3) and the extent to which these relations vary by sex and grade. Results inform firearm violence prevention and intervention efforts.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

4-22-2024

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