The Protective Effects of Neighborhood Collective Efficacy On Adolescent Substance Use and Violence Following Exposure to Community Violence

Introduction:

Adolescents are at great risk for exposure to violence in their communities (Finkelhor et al. 2009), and victimization has been associated with multiple negative outcomes including impaired social relationships, poor school performance, substance use, and violent delinquency (Macmillan, 2001; Sullivan et al., 2004). Yet, not all children exposed to violence have adverse outcomes; some may experience protective factors which minimize the likelihood of negative consequences. This study investigates the degree to which neighborhood collective efficacy--the presence of engaged adult residents who are willing to take collective, informal actions to minimize youth delinquency---buffers the effects of exposure to community violence on adolescent substance use and violence.

Methods: This paper relies on data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Information on collective efficacy was obtained from adult residents in 80 neighborhoods in Chicago, and data on exposure to violence (witnessing or personally experiencing up to 12 types of violence), substance use (a count of any use of tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana), and violence (a count of perpetration of 7 violent behaviors) were obtained from youth aged 9-15. Analyses were conducted using Hierarchical Poisson modeling and controlled for parent- and youth-reported psycho-social and demographic characteristics and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (i.e., poverty) based on items from the 1990 U.S. Census.

Results: In models controlling for other individual-level risk factors, exposure to violence was significantly associated with increased substance use (b=.15, p<.01) and perpetration of violent behaviors (b=.25, p<.01). When assessing neighborhood direct effects, controlling for individual-level variables, collective efficacy did not significantly predict substance use or violence; disadvantage was associated with less substance use (b=-.14, p<.05), but had no impact on violence. Cross-level interactions indicated that the relationship between violent victimization and increased substance use was weaker for children living in areas with higher levels of collective efficacy compared to those in areas with lower collective efficacy (b=-.22, p<.01). Collective efficacy did not moderate the effect of victimization on perpetration of violence.

Conclusion: The effects of exposure to violence on both substance use and violence were consistent with many prior studies of victimization and with research indicating that there are common pathways to multiple problem behaviors. Our study is among the first to demonstrate that residence in neighborhoods with high collective efficacy minimizes the impact of victimization on substance use and suggests that community-level interventions can help promote healthy youth development.