Citation

Stoddard SA, Whiteside L, Zimmerman MA, Cunningham RM, Chermack ST, Walton MAL. Am. J. Community Psychol. 2013; 51(1-2): 57-65.

Affiliation

Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, SPH 1 Room 3726, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA, sastodda@umich.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1007/s10464-012-9541-7

PMID

22744013

Abstract

Resiliency theory posits that some youth exposed to risk factors do not develop negative behaviors due to the influence of promotive factors. This study examines the effects of cumulative risk and promotive factors on adolescent violent behavior and tests two models of resilience-the compensatory model and the protective model-in a sample of adolescent patients (14-18 years old; n = 726) presenting to an urban emergency department who report violent behavior. Cumulative measures of risk and promotive factors consist of individual characteristics and peer, family, and community influences. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the two models of resilience (using cumulative measures of risk and promotive factors) for violent behavior within a sample of youth reporting violent behavior. Higher cumulative risk was associated with higher levels of violent behavior. Higher levels of promotive factors were associated with lower levels of violent behavior and moderated the association between risk and violent behaviors. Our results support the risk-protective model of resiliency and suggest that promotive factors can help reduce the burden of cumulative risk for youth violence.

Language: en