University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2023 Jul;38(13-14):8524-8541. doi: 10.1177/08862605231156203. Epub 2023 Mar 3.
Individual differences in temperament (e.g., negative emotionality) are robust early predictors of emotional and behavioral health. Although temperament is often conceptualized as relatively stable across the lifespan, evidence suggests that it may change over time as a function of social context. Extant studies have been limited by cross-sectional or short-term longitudinal designs that have precluded tests of stability as well as factors that may influence stability across developmental periods. In addition, few studies have tested the impact of social contexts that are common for children living in urban and under-resourced environments, such as exposure to community violence. In the present study we hypothesized that levels of negative emotionality, activity, and shyness would decrease across development from childhood to mid-adolescence as a function of early exposure to violence in the Pittsburgh Girls Study, a community study of girls enriched for families living in low-resourced neighborhoods. Temperament was assessed by parent- and teacher-report on the Emotionality Activity Sociability Shyness Temperament Survey in childhood (5-8-years-old), early-adolescence (11-years-old), and mid-adolescence (15-years-old). Violence exposure (e.g., victim of or witness to violent crime, exposure to domestic violence) was assessed annually via child and parent report. Results showed that on average, combined caregiver and teacher reports of negative emotionality and activity level exhibited small but significant reductions from childhood to adolescence, whereas shyness remained stable. Violence exposure in early adolescence predicted increases in negative emotionality and shyness by mid-adolescence. Violence exposure was not associated with stability of activity level. Our findings suggest that exposure to violence, particularly in early adolescence, amplifies individual differences in shyness and negative emotionality, underlying an important pathway of risk for developmental psychopathology.
个体差异在气质（例如，负性情绪）方面是情绪和行为健康的强大早期预测指标。尽管气质通常被认为是在整个生命周期中相对稳定的，但有证据表明，它可能会随着时间的推移而变化，这取决于社会环境。现有的研究受到横断面或短期纵向设计的限制，这些设计排除了稳定性的测试以及可能影响发展时期稳定性的因素。此外，很少有研究测试了对生活在城市和资源匮乏环境中的儿童常见的社会环境的影响，例如暴露于社区暴力。在本研究中，我们假设，由于早期暴露于匹兹堡女孩研究中的暴力，负面情绪、活动和害羞水平将从童年到青少年中期随着发展而降低，匹兹堡女孩研究是一项针对居住在资源匮乏社区的家庭的女孩的社区研究。气质通过父母和教师在儿童期（5-8 岁）、青少年早期（11 岁）和青少年中期（15 岁）的情绪、活动、社交和害羞气质调查中的报告进行评估。暴力暴露（例如，暴力犯罪的受害者或目击者，家庭暴力的暴露）通过儿童和父母的年度报告进行评估。结果表明，平均而言，父母和教师对负面情绪和活动水平的综合报告显示，从儿童期到青少年期，负面情绪和活动水平呈小但显著下降，而害羞程度保持稳定。青少年早期的暴力暴露预测到青少年中期，负面情绪和害羞程度增加。暴力暴露与活动水平的稳定性无关。我们的研究结果表明，暴露于暴力，特别是在青少年早期，会放大害羞和负性情绪的个体差异，这是发展性精神病理学的一个重要风险途径。
