Exploring the Relationship between Community Violence Perception and Parental Stress from Early Childhood to Adolescence: A Parallel Growth Analysis

Background and Purpose: In contemporary society, community violence stands as a significant social safety concern in the United States. While research acknowledges the impact of community violence on individual well-being, there remains a dearth of understanding regarding its concurrent relationship with maternal parenting stress. This study seeks to address this gap by delving into the longitudinal dynamics between perceived community violence and parenting stress from early childhood through adolescence. It aims to explore two fundamental questions: (1) How do perceived community violence and parenting stress evolve from children’s early childhood to early adolescence? And (2) How do the trajectories of perceived community violence and parenting stress relate to each other after controlling other community-level factors?

Methods: Data for this study were drawn from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), involving 4898 children and their families from 20 major U.S. cities. Six waves of data collection spanned from 1998 to 2017, capturing pivotal points from childbirth to the child's age of 15. Perceived community violence was assessed using the "My Exposure to Violence" scale, while parenting stress was measured through the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Covariates encompassed demographic details of children and primary caregivers, neighborhood characteristics, and maternal relocation across neighborhoods. Statistical analyses were conducted using Mplus 8.10, and Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) to handle missing data. Univariate unconditional linear growth models examined changes over time, while process growth models explored the co-change of community violence and parenting stress.

Results: The unconditional univariate growth model was utilized to estimate changes in community violence and parenting stress across ages 3, 5, 9, and 15. Changes in community violence and maternal parenting stress showed a good model fit. Negative covariance suggests an association between higher levels of community violence/parenting stress in the beginning and fewer decreases in community violence/parenting stress over time. The parallel process growth model to investigate the reciprocal relationship between changes in community violence and parenting stress showed a good model fit (CFI/TLI = .96/.95), RMSEA = .05, SRMS = .03). Results demonstrate that when initial levels of parenting stress are high there is a link to higher initial levels of community violence via the intercept-intercept relationship. Furthermore, over time when parenting stress decreases there is a correlation to decreases in community violence via the slope-slope covariance.

Conclusion and Implications: This study underscores a reciprocal relationship between perceived community violence and parenting stress, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods, exhibiting a minimal increase trajectory in both variables. The findings align with existing literature linking community violence to heightened parenting stress and subsequent parental violence toward children. Addressing factors contributing to elevated parenting stress is crucial for enhancing family conditions. Interventions such as early support for individuals and families, job creation in disadvantaged areas, and improved school-based services may mitigate neighborhood violence and alleviate parenting stress over time, ultimately fostering safer and healthier environments for families and communities alike.