Social Determinants of Emotional Resilience in the context of community violence: The role of developmental assets

Background: Youth exposed to community violence (ETV) are indeed at increased risk for psychosocial problems; however, they may bounce back, cope and recover constructively towards normal health, exemplifying resilience, i.e. successful adaptation despite risk, over time. There is compelling evidence that the majority of youth ETV manage to adapt successfully. In fact, experts argue that "understanding positive pathways and processes are fundamentally important for theory, prevention and treatment of psychopathology". However, few longitudinal studies have modeled resilient trajectories of youth ETV, and tested the significance of developmental assets in building resilience among at-risk youth. Whether collective efficacy interacts with assets to build resilience is also unknown.

Methods: Using prospective multi-wave data on 1166 urban youth ages 11-16 years at baseline, and data collected separately about their neighborhoods from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, generalized estimating equations were modeled to examine if assets in the family, school, peers and community predicted log odds of emotional resilience longitudinally among youth ETV conditional on individual and neighborhood level confounders. Assets were coded at baseline, ETV at wave 2, and outcome at waves 2 and 3.

Results: 60-85% of youth were emotionally resilient at either wave. Support variables and positive peers had significant main effects for all youth, and positive peers and family support were particularly protective for witnesses and victims. Structured activities and collective efficacy influenced the rate of change differentially for ETV groups.

Conclusion: Public health interventions should build assets in the school, family and community.