Abstract of Distinction: Temperament Profiles Predict Community Violence Exposure and Adjustment Problems

Introduction: Community violence (CV) is disproportionately experienced by African American youth (Krivo et al., 2009), contributing to disparate health outcomes (Mrug et al., 2016). Understanding factors associated with variation in this population’s exposure to CV, internalizing and externalizing problems, and substance use outcomes can help to inform prevention efforts to address this disparity. Evidence suggests that individual factors such as temperament exacerbate risk for exposure to environmental stress and susceptibility to adjustment problems (e.g., Bubier et al., 2009). Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) is a temperament theory that describes neurobiological systems that affect emotional and behavioral responses to environmental cues: the behavioral inhibition system, the fight-flight-freeze system, and the behavioral activation system (Gray & Naughton, 2000). Though theory suggests that reinforcement sensitivity systems operate jointly (e.g., Corr, 2002), prior research has largely examined them in isolation. Examining profiles of temperament characteristics will advance our understanding of how RST systems work together to impact outcomes.

Method: Participants were 465 urban African American adolescents (mean age = 14.78; 41.1% female) who reported on RST systems in grade 9 and internalizing symptoms, frequency of substance use, and CV exposure in grade 10; teachers reported on aggressive behaviors. Latent profile analysis (LPA) empirically identified response patterns across participants’ fear, inhibition, and activation scores, and grouped participants into profiles based on similar patterns. Associations between grade 9 RST profiles and grade 10 outcomes were examined using the BCH method (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2014).

Results: Four latent profiles, supported by fit information, emerged: 1) Fear Predominant (9.07%); 2) Balanced (20%), 3) Fear and Drive (35.64%), and 4) BAS predominant (35.28%). Profile membership was differentially related to later mental health, substance use, and community violence (CV) exposure. The Balanced class experienced significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, aggression, CV exposure, alcohol use, and marijuana use than the other classes. The class characterized by Fear and Drive experienced significantly lower levels of depression and community violence exposure than the BAS Predominant class, and less aggression than the Fear Predominant and BAS Predominant classes.

Conclusion: Findings suggest different combinations of temperament characteristics are related to variation in youths’ CV exposure, substance use, and emotional and behavioral adjustment. Prevention efforts may be tailored differently depending on individual differences in temperament patterns.