Abstract
This study explores the influences of communal values, empathy, violence avoidance self-efficacy beliefs, and classmate’s fighting on violent behaviors among urban African American preadolescent boys and girls. As part of a larger intervention study, 644 low-income 5th grade students from 12 schools completed a baseline assessment that included the target constructs. Boys reported more violent behaviors, and lower levels of empathy and violence avoidance self-efficacy beliefs than girls. Path analyses revealed that, after controlling for the positive contributions of classmate’s fighting, violence avoidance self-efficacy beliefs were a negative predictor of violent behavior. Communal values had a direct negative relationship with violence for boys, but not girls. Both communal values and empathy were associated with less violent behavior through positive relationships with violence avoidance self-efficacy beliefs. For girls, classmate fighting had an indirect positive association with violent behavior through its negative relationship with violence avoidance self-efficacy beliefs. Findings are discussed in terms of implications of basic and applied research on violence among African American youth.
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Acknowledgements
The Aban Aya Project was supported by grants to Brian R. Flay (P. I.) from the Office of Minority Health administered by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (U01HD30078) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA11019). Support for secondary analysis and manuscript preparation were provided to the first author by grants from the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (P60-MD002217-01) and National Institute of Drug Abuse (DA12390).
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Jagers, R.J., Sydnor, K., Mouttapa, M. et al. Protective Factors Associated with Preadolescent Violence: Preliminary Work on a Cultural Model. Am J Community Psychol 40, 138–145 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9121-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9121-4