Does psychopathology mediate the pathway from childhood violence exposure to substance use in low-income, urban African American girls?☆
Section snippets
Background
Although research links childhood violence exposure (CEV) to substance use in adolescence, less is known about the mediating mechanisms that might help to explain this relationship. This study examines psychopathology as a potential mediator of the relationship between CEV and substance use among African American girls growing up in low-income, urban neighborhoods, who are at disproportionate risk for violence exposure.
Methods
Participants were 177 African American girls from low-income communities in Chicago, who participated in a 2-year longitudinal study of HIV-risk behavior involving 5 waves of data collection (mean age 14 at baseline) and an additional follow-up assessing lifetime violence and victimization exposure (mean age 17). CEV reflected reports of physical victimization, sexual victimization, or witnessed violence occurring before age 12. Psychopathology was assessed at baseline with the Youth Self
Results
Adjusting for age, girls reporting CEV were four times as likely to report drug use (OR = 4.0, p < .001) and were also more likely to report substance-related problems (β = .35, p < .001). Symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) mediated the relationship between CEV and drug use. Symptoms of ODD and CD also mediated the relationship with substance-related problems. The direct relationship between CEV and alcohol use was
Conclusions
In this sample of low-income African American girls, those reporting exposure to violence during childhood evidenced more drug use and substance-related problems. This relationship was partially explained by increased externalizing problems, particularly symptoms of ODD and CD, associated with CEV. These findings highlight the need for early interventions targeting substance use and related problems among low-income African-American girls who report exposure to violence and who exhibit symptoms
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Funding Source. This research is supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (R03 MH086361-01A1, PI: H. Wilson; R01 HD067511-01, PI: H. Wilson; R01 MH65155, PI: G. Donenberg).