Different Life-Domain Stressors and the Development of Violent Behaviors Among African Americans Transitioning into Adulthood

General strain theory posits that exposure to stressors increases the risk for involvement in violent behaviors. African Americans are exposed to a disproportionate number and types of stressors many of which begin earlier in the life course than for the general population. Still unclear are the pathways by which different life-domain stressors may influence risk for engaging in violence for this population. Incorporating an ecological stress and coping framework, this study examined whether different stressors are equally salient in the development of violent behaviors among African Americans transitioning into young adulthood. This study utilized data from an African American subsample (n = 604) of the Flint Adolescent Study (FAS), an ongoing longitudinal study that followed a cohort of adolescents beginning in 9th grade (1994) into adulthood (2010). Multilevel growth curve models were used to examine how changes in five life-domain stressors (i.e., daily hassles, financial shortage, parenting stress, neighborhood stress, and racial discrimination) relate to violent behaviors, and to test whether there was a threshold at which the accumulation of exposure to different stressors served as a tipping point for risk. We found that continued exposure to daily hassles and discrimination increased the risk for violent behaviors during young adulthood. We also found a nonlinear relationship between the accumulation of exposure stressors and risk for violence. Findings from this study suggest that there may be identifiable stressors that can persist over time to influence the risk for violent behaviors at young adulthood. Implications for intervention development will be discussed.