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Risk and Protective Factor Research:
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Intervention Research:
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Pilot Studies:
Mary McKay, Ellen DeVoe and Karen Horowitz
Supporting Parents in Reducing Urban Youth Violence Exposure
October 2000
The proposed research will extend the development of innovative programs that can reduce youth violence exposure and meet the needs of urban families as they attempt to negotiate a community context often fraught with dangers. The projects aims are 1) to design a family-based intervention that reduces youths’ exposure to violence in the home and community, based upon empirical data provided by urban early adolescents (ages 11-14 years) and their parents; 2) to provide maximum opportunity for urban parents, youth, teachers and representatives of community-based agencies to assist in the design of the proposed family-based intervention; 3) to conduct a feasibility test of program delivery, recruitment, and response to the program with 60 urban parents and their early adolescent children; 4) to test the effectiveness of a 5-session family-based intervention developed in the proposed project compared to a family health education series delivered to mothers and their early adolescent children; and 5) to inform the development of an R01 proposal for a more extensive investigation of family-based interventions to reduce urban youth exposure to violence in the home and community.
Suzanne Salzinger, Tanya Stockhammer and Richard Feldman
A Hands off Approach to Getting Along With Others: Issues of Respect, Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Middle School Children
October 2000
This pilot project developed and pilot tested an inexpensive classroom-based intervention designed to provide a format in which a middle school teacher and his or her students, viewed collectively as a community, jointly formulate rules for civil behavior and monitor adherence to those rules. Such an approach is believed to enhance involvement and commitment.
The classroom-community program depends upon four components. The first component was intended to establish a classroom forum that encouraged discussion among boys and girls about disrespectful, respectful, and sexually inappropriate behaviors by their peers of both the same and the opposite sex. The list of disrespectful behaviors offered by the students was exhaustive (e.g., name calling, fighting, teasing, cursing), whereas the list of respectful behaviors was short, illustrating the relatively high level of disrespect that the children see as occurring in school. The second component was designed to empower students to share in the establishment of the rules of civil behavior. The third component was designed to establish a system for regular discussions about monitoring the class’s adherence and non-adherence to the rules, with emphasis on positive behavior and alternative responses to disrespectful behavior. The final component was designed to use the class’s monitoring of their own behavior to provide feedback for progress toward more civil behavior. It was hypothesized that observing increases in their own positive behavior would serve as reinforcement for continued adherence to the rules.
Debra Kalmuss and Alwyn Cohall
Dating Violence Among Latino and African American Youth: An Elicitation Study
October 2000
This pilot study conducted the elicitation research necessary to design a culturally appropriate intervention to reduce dating violence among African-American and Latino adolescents. Same-sex focus groups with Latino and African-American male and female adolescents, conducted over 1 year, elicited the specific salient attitudes, beliefs, and norms regarding physical aggression, sexual coercion, and gender roles in our target adolescent populations. In addition, they identified the specific contexts that are likely to result in physically aggressive or sexually coercive dating behaviors (e.g., what forms do these behaviors take, when and where do they occur, what are their triggers, who is the precipitator, how do events escalate/diffuse?). Finally, the focus groups identified various forms of sexual coercion (e.g., threats of violence or physical aggression; withholding affection; treating the person badly; terminating the relationship; or spreading rumors about the person). Researchers used this information to 1) shape the content and language of the intervention curriculum, 2) develop grounded vignettes and role-playing scenarios for the skills-building portion of the intervention, and 3) help youth develop strategies for recognizing, avoiding, and/or resisting high-risk encounters. Information was disseminated to the staff of the recruitment clinics, the Columbia Center for Youth Violence Prevention and to other professional audiences through presentations and publications.
Danielle Laraque
Zero Tolerance for Violence: Focus Groups Discussion by Community and Physician Groups
October 2000
It is assumed that the pediatrician has a vital role to play in violence prevention through her/his influence on parents, schools and community leaders (Pediatrics, 1994 Oct; 94(4 Pt 2): 623-30). The purpose of this pilot study is to describe the knowledge and attitudes of three distinct groups and to pilot questions to be used by pediatricians in anticipatory guidance regarding violence prevention.
Three focus groups will be organized to explore specific areas of violence prevention. These groups will be held with (1) community leaders and the participants of community-based organizations, churches and activist groups specifically targeting men in the Harlem community; (2) community leaders and the participants in community-based organizations, churches, and activist groups specifically serving women in Harlem who are the victims of domestic violence; and (3) pediatricians (residents, practitioners and faculty) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Harlem Hospital Center. Areas of violence prevention to be addressed by all three focus groups include knowledge of the causes of homicide and suicide, attitudes regarding violence, attitudes regarding the role of health professionals in violence prevention, and attitudes regarding the role of health professionals in counseling regarding the hazards of guns.
Jocelyn Brown
Validity of a Cartoon Measure to Assess Exposure to Domestic Violence, Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Adaptation to Family Violence in a Latino School aged Population
October 2000
Suzanne Salzinger
Children's Perspectives on Safety in Their Neighborhoods
October 2001
This project addresses issues of inner-city middle-school children’s safety in their neighborhood and school. It is intended to serve, during the course of data collection, as a broad based preventive intervention for any students (not just high risk children) attending middle school and to provide information that will inform more intensive intervention programs that can be directed at high risk children as well. More specifically, the project focuses on middle school children’s point of view as expressed in writing and aims to identify themes about five aspects of neighborhood and school safety. These include 1) perceptions of what makes children feel safe and unsafe in their neighborhood and school; 2) descriptions of respectful and disrespectful behavior of grownups and children in their neighborhood and school; 3) feelings about living in their neighborhood and attending their school; 4) evaluations of which things children wish to see changed or unchanged in their neighborhood and school; and 5) coping strategies for keeping safe in their neighborhood and school. It further aims to analyse the emergent themes from the children’s writing in relation to age (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades) and gender so that they can be incorporated into school and community based programs.
Jocelyn Brown
Adaptation and Coping of Children Exposed to Domestic Violence
October 2001
This project is intended to continue a feasibility study based on the population served by the Child Advocacy Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. It aims (1) to gather data enabling a comparison of abused and neglected children who have been exposed to domestic violence with those who have not, and (2) to learn how children exposed to domestic violence comprehend and adjust to the family conflict.
Susanna Ko, Larkin McReynolds
Mental Health Service Use and Satisfaction Instrument for Youth (SUSI-Y): A Pilot Study in Juvenile Justice Population
October 2001
The aim of this project is to pilot a new instrument (i.e., Service Use and Satisfaction Instrument for Youth, SUSI-Y) that inquires about mental health services use and satisfaction in a juvenile justice population. As part of this project, we will examine the SUSI-Y’s reliability, validity, and acceptability among a sample of youth in a juvenile detention center in Kentucky. We will assess 1) agreement between two forms of youth self-report data and 2) temporal stability of youth responses on the Susi-Y.
Karestan Koenan
Exposure to Trauma and Childhood Disruptive Behavior: Genetic and Cognitive Pathways
October 2001
Exposure to maltreatment and violence in childhood is associated with later violent behavior as well as juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and disruptive behavior. This pilot project used data from T. Moffit and A. Caspi's Environmental Risk in the Origins of Disruptive Behavior study to investigate the genetic and environmental basis of the relationship between child trauma and children's disruptive behavior with a focus on the development of executive functioning skills as the mediator of this association. This project 1) investigated whether child trauma is associated with impaired executive functioning; 2) examined whether the association between child trauma and disruptive behavior is mediated by the effect of child trauma on executive functioning; 3) examined whether the relationship between child trauma, executive functioning, and disruptive behavior persists after accounting for the role of genetic influences on the relationship; and 4) examined whether the relationship between child trauma, executive functioning, and disruptive behavior differs by familial loading for psychopathology.
Research suggests that exposure to extreme stress in childhood, such as domestic violence, affects children's neurocognitive development, leading to lower intelligence. But studies have been unable to account for genetic influences that might confound the association between domestic violence and lower intelligence. This twin study tested whether domestic violence had environmentally mediated effects on young children's intelligence addressing aim 1 of this pilot project (Domestic Violence is Associated with Environmental Suppression of IQ in Young Children. Development and Psychopathology, 15 (2003), 297-311). Children's IQs were assessed for a population sample of 1116 monozygotic and dizygotic 5-year-old twin pairs in England. Mothers reported their experience of domestic violence in the previous 5 years. Ordinary least squares regression showed that domestic violence was uniquely associated with IQ suppression in a dose–response relationship. Children exposed to high levels of domestic violence had IQs that were, on average, 8 points lower than unexposed children. Structural equation models showed that adult domestic violence accounted for 4% of the variation, on average, in child IQ, independent of latent genetic influences. The findings are consistent with animal experiments and human correlational studies documenting the harmful effects of extreme stress on brain development. Programs that successfully reduce domestic violence should also have beneficial effects on children's cognitive development. Analysis addressing aims 2-4 are ongoing.
Randall Sell
Sources of Institutional Responses to Anti-Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth
October 2002
Public attention has been drawn to violence experienced by gay, lesbian and bisexual youth (GLB). However, little research has documented the extent to which GLB youth are at risk of being victims of violence, the sources of violence, or institutional responses to this violence. This project proposes to survey 250 GLB youth and 250 heterosexual youth in order to (1) identify the primary sources (both real and perceived) of violence in the lives of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth in New York City; (2) identify institutional responses to violence directed towards gay, lesbian and bisexual youth; (3) explore how knowledge of the primary sources of violence and institutional responses to this violence can inform the development of violence prevention programs; and (4) use data collected in this pilot study to apply for more detailed study of violence against gay, lesbian and bisexual youth.
Daisy Ng Mak
Aggression-Competent Identity Among High School Students
October 2002
Highly publicized accounts of homicides in school settings and growing national consciousness about the problem of violence among youth have put the issue of youth violence at the forefront of public and scientific concern. This pilot project developed an instrument and surveyed 1,684 students enrolled in three New York City high schools in three neighborhoods differing in levels of crime. With the data, researchers will 1) compare and contrast three perspectives of aggressive behavior among high school students living and attending school in neighborhoods with different levels of neighborhood crime; 2) test the internal consistency of the measurement of "aggression-competent identity" (self-identification as aggressive); and 3) examine the construct validity of the measurement of "aggression-competent identity."
Jennifer Kotler
Adolescents Role Models: Understanding the Appeal of Violent Media Figures
October 2002
The purpose of this study is to examine the psychosocial qualities attributed to teenagers' media role models and to link such attributions to teenagers' own social behavior. We are particularly interested in adolescents' assessments of media characters ways of dealing with conflict and use of problem solving strategies. While content analyses of media characters have indicated which types of behaviors are shown most frequently, we know little about the complex ways in which adolescents perceive and evaluate such behaviors. Moreover, while effects studies have demonstrated that certain types of experimentally manipulated media portrayals have greater impact on behavior than others, we have less information about the complexity with which teenagers might view popular characters ongoing decision making processes and behaviors. The aims of this study are to (1) describe the types of physiological, behavioral, and physical qualities that are attributed to adolescents' media and real life role models (as well as media figures they dislike); (2) understand adolescents' perceptions of conflict resolution and problem solving strategies used by their media and real life role models; and (3) assess the relationship between attraction toward violent and hostile role models and the adolescents own social behavior. Analysis will concentrate on assessing the types of characteristics adolescents attribute to their most admired figures and the degree to which adolescents own social behavior is related to the profiles of behavioral characteristics of their favorite character and the degree to which they believe their admired character endorses violent solutions to conflicts.
Miriam Ehrensaft and Angela Seracini
Service Needs of Pediatric Psychiatry Outpatients Exposed to Domestic Violence
October 2002
This study aims to compare the service needs of children presenting to an outpatient pediatric psychiatry clinic for disruptive behavior disorders with and without a history of exposure to domestic violence. Service needs assessed will include type and quantity of mental and physical health referrals for children, psychotherapy for mothers, parenting interventions, crisis intervention referrals, and emergency room visits. We will further compare adherence with treatment recommendations and attrition in these two groups. The goal is to develop an empirical basis for training child psychiatry residents, fellows, interns, and externs regarding the service needs of patients with a history of exposure to domestic violence. Future federal funding will be sought to test the effects of such training on retention of families with exposure to domestic violence, adherence to treatment recommendations, and treatment outcome (reduction of children’s disruptive behavior symptoms and global improvement).
Surveillance:
In collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH), the Columbia Center for Youth Violence Prevention (CCYVP) has devised and implemented a plan that samples emergency rooms in New York City and collects data on violence-related injury and homicide for the selected units. The resulting database allows the Center and the NYC DOHMH to monitor changes in violent injury and death in the five boroughs of New York City. CCYVP has recently performed a validation study for the estimate of emergency department visits for intentional injury. This validation study corroborates the sampling technique used by the Bureau of Injury Epidemiology and gives confidence to the estimated numbers reported by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Columbia University. This study also revealed the optimal number of emergency departments; thus, in 2004, data are being collected in a sample of 23 emergency departments. This sample size is expected to yield the best possible number of emergency department visits resulting from intentional injuries among New York City emergency departments. A paper based on this validation study is being submitted for publication in the winter of 2005.
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