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In this collaboratively written piece, a team of researchers and high school students reflect on their participatory ethnography work in a literacy-focused space within a Philadelphia public high school. The authors collectively explore the critical components of their still-unfolding research: participatory space-building, which entails creating safety in learning and writing-focused spaces and productively managing tensions that emerge, and participatory knowledge building, which involves expanding forms of knowing and expression while centering relationships. They discuss participatory ethnography as the practice of working together toward shared goals in reciprocal, mutual fashion.

For African American youth disproportionately exposed to community violence and the associated risk of externalizing behaviors, developmental assets that reduce the risk for externalizing behaviors and enhance adaptive coping should be explored. In a sample of 572 African American adolescents (M[subscript age] = 15.85; SD = 1.42), the current study explored whether future orientation or gender buffered the impact of community violence exposure on externalizing behaviors. The current study also examined the interaction between future orientation, gender, and violence-specific coping strategies to determine their association with externalizing behaviors. Future orientation moderated the relationship between violence exposure and delinquent, but not aggressive, behaviors. Future orientation interacted differently with coping for males and females to predict externalizing behaviors. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

Research conducted on youth exposure to violence has generally focused on documenting the prevalence of community violence and its emotional and behavioral implications. However, there is a dearth of information related to the impact of violence on the implementation and evaluation of community and school-based programs. This commentary examines the impact of community violence on a school-based research program. It is also a brief summary of the detrimental effects of exposure to community violence on psychological and academic functioning and health outcomes. An example of the impact of community violence on the implementation of a school-based asthma program will be addressed. Implications for school nurses will be discussed.

In this collaboratively written piece, a team of researchers and high school students reflect on their participatory ethnography work in a literacy-focused space within a Philadelphia public high school. The authors collectively explore the critical components of their still-unfolding research: participatory space-building, which entails creating safety in learning and writingfocused spaces and productively managing tensions that emerge, and participatory knowledge building, which involves expanding forms of knowing and expression while centering relationships. They discuss participatory ethnography as the practice of working together toward shared goals in reciprocal, mutual fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to community violence disproportionately impacts low-income, minority youth and is associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms and maladaptive adjustment. This study investigates whether posttraumatic stress mediates the relation between exposure to community violence and externalizing symptoms and the moderating role of family cohesion and daily family support in buffering these effects on later externalizing. Low-income, African American 7th-grade students (M age = 12.57 years; N = 254) from high-crime neighborhoods participated in a 2-year longitudinal study measuring the effects of community violence exposure. The students completed questionnaires administered by research staff over 5 consecutive days for each year of the study. Family cohesion and daily family support exhibited a significant buffering effect for several outcomes. Posttraumatic stress significantly mediated the effect of witnessing community violence on subsequent aggression. The strength of these indirect effects depended on level of family cohesion. The findings provide evidence in support of interventions provided at both individual and family levels. Mental health providers working with this population should be aware of the intertwined nature of exposure to community violence, posttraumatic stress, and subsequent maladaptive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For African American youth disproportionately exposed to community violence and the associated risk of externalizing behaviors, developmental assets that reduce the risk for externalizing behaviors and enhance adaptive coping should be explored. In a sample of 572 African American adolescents (Mage = 15.85; SD = 1.42), the current study explored whether future orientation or gender buffered the impact of community violence exposure on externalizing behaviors. The current study also examined the interaction between future orientation, gender, and violence-specific coping strategies to determine their association with externalizing behaviors. Future orientation moderated the relationship between violence exposure and delinquent, but not aggressive, behaviors. Future orientation interacted differently with coping for males and females to predict externalizing behaviors. Research and clinical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined whether peer association, a subtype of peer influence that involves the indirect modeling of behaviors, can promote positive development among Black American adolescents living in high‐risk neighborhoods. Data were collected during a three‐year longitudinal study from a sample of 316 Black American adolescents (M = 11.65 years). As positive peer association increased over time, youth experienced an increase in self‐esteem, school connectedness, paternal and maternal closeness, and a decrease in supportive beliefs about aggression. Additionally, lower ethnic identity appeared to account for why some youth experienced a sharper increase in maternal and paternal closeness as positive peer association increased. Future interventions should consider harnessing the ability of prosocial peers to foster healthy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined whether peer association, a subtype of peer influence that involves the indirect modeling of behaviors, can promote positive development among Black American adolescents living in high-risk neighborhoods. Data were collected during a three-year longitudinal study from a sample of 316 Black American adolescents (M = 11.65 years). As positive peer association increased over time, youth experienced an increase in self-esteem, school connectedness, paternal and maternal closeness, and a decrease in supportive beliefs about aggression. Additionally, lower ethnic identity appeared to account for why some youth experienced a sharper increase in maternal and paternal closeness as positive peer association increased. Future interventions should consider harnessing the ability of prosocial peers to foster healthy development., (© 2017 Society for Research on Adolescence.)