Neighborhood disadvantage, stressful life events and adjustments in urban elementary-school children

TLDR

The study assessed three types of stressful life events among African‑American and Hispanic urban children and examined their concurrent and prospective links to adjustment. Younger children and those in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods reported more stressful life events, which were associated with higher concurrent aggression and predicted increased aggression one year later, with circumscribed events being the strongest one‑year predictor, and the impact of stressful events and violence exposure on aggression was amplified only under high neighborhood disadvantage.

Abstract

Assessed the occurrence of three types of stressful life events among African- American and Hispanic children living in urban neighborhoods, and examined the concurrent and prospective relations between stressful life events and adjustment. Younger children and children living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods experienced more stressful life events. Stressful life events were significantly related to higher concurrent levels of aggression and predicted increases in aggression P year later. Life transitions and exposure to violence predicted concurrent aggression, but circumscribed events served as the strongest predictor of aggression 1 year later. Total number of stressful events and exposure to violence significantly interacted with neighborhood disadvantage, such that effects were only apparent under conditions of high neighborhood disadvantage.