Open AccessTesting the Nurturing Environments Framework on Youth Violence Across Ethnically and Geographically Diverse Urban and Rural Samples of Adolescents
Author(s) -
Beverly Kingston,
Paul R. Smokowski,
Andrew MacFarland,
Caroline B. R. Evans,
Fred C. Pampel,
Melissa C. Mercado,
Kevin J. Vagi,
Erica Spies
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
youth and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.969
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1552-8499
pISSN - 0044-118X
DOI - 10.1177/0044118x19900904
Subject(s) - disadvantaged , aggression , ethnic group , ethnically diverse , collective efficacy , poison control , psychology , criminology , sociology , social psychology , political science , environmental health , medicine , anthropology , law
Although research advocates for comprehensive cross sector youth violence prevention efforts, mobilizing across sectors to translate scientific recommendations into practice has proven challenging. A unifying framework may provide a foundational step towards building a shared understanding of the risk and protective factors that impact youth violence. We conducted two empirical tests of the nurturing environment framework on youth violence across ethnic and geographically diverse rural and urban adolescent samples. Results show that overall the characteristics of nurturing environments are associated with lower levels of aggression and violence. In addition, minimizing exposure to socially toxic conditions had the strongest associations with lower aggression and violence. Findings were supported across both samples, suggesting that this framework may apply in urban and rural, economically disadvantaged contexts.