Exposure to neighborhood danger and adolescents’ externalizing behavior problems: The protective role of parental self-efficacy

Adolescence represents a critical period for the development of externalizing behavior problems (EXT; Loeber & Hay, 1997; Moffitt, 1993). Several factors are responsible for the vulnerability of adolescents to EXT, including temperamental and environmental characteristics. Regarding the latter, several studies has shown that the exposure to neighbourhood violence is associated to adolescents’ EXT (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998; Scarpa, 2001). While most studies have documented this relation in samples from the United States, little research is available in the Italian context. One example, Bacchini et al. (2001) in a sample of 489 adolescents in Naples, found that high levels of community violence were associated to antisocial behaviors. In the present study, we examined whether mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood danger are related to adolescents’ EXT and whether maternal perceived self-efficacy in controlling high risk behaviors (MPSE-Risk) moderates this relation. Based on previous studies that have shown that MPSE-Risk significantly reduce adolescents’ EXT (Ceravolo, 2014; Mahabee-Gittens et al., 2011) and on Bandura (1997)’s conceptualization of parental self-efficacy as beliefs in their own caregiving capabilities as well as in managing challenging familial demands, we hypothesized that MPSE-Risk operate as a protective factor especially in challenging circumstances, such as living in a dangerous neighbourhood. Altogether, 100 mothers from Rome and 95 mothers from Naples provided data (Mage of mother = 44.01 years; SD= 5.43; Mage of child =13.18 years, SD=0.66; 50,3% boys). Mother reported measures were used to asses MPSE-Risk, Exposure to neighborhood danger and adolescents’ EXT. Hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to examine the effect of gender, socioeconomic status, MPSE-Risk and their interaction on EXT. Results showed that MPSE-Risk buffered the detrimental effect of the exposure to a neighborhood perceived as dangerous on EXT, representing a protective factor against the development of EXT especially in dangerous neighbourhood. Implications for further research are discussed.