Longitudinal Effects of Exposure to Violence on Parenting, Maternal Depression, and Early Childhood Outcomes in Latino Families

Informed by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development and Belsky’s ecological theory of parenting, this study evaluated a conceptual model examining the effects of exposure to individual-level and community-level violence on maternal depression, parenting, and early child behavioral outcomes in Latino Early Head Start families longitudinally. The sample included 648 Latino families comprised of a mother and her child based on secondary data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project dataset. Results supported the full conceptual model and indicated that maternal depression and parenting behavior each mediated the relationship between exposure to violence and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. However, this conceptual model was not explored separately for foreign- and U.S.-born Latino families due to insufficient power. Findings from this study highlight the importance of maternal psychopathology on child behavior outcomes and have implications for research, practice and policy for Latino families.

Author

• Snyder, Hannah

Language

• en

Keyword

• maternal depression
• violence
• early childhood
• parenting

Date created

• 2018

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Psychology

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Le, Huynh-Nhu

Committee Member(s)

• Perry, Deborah F
• Moore, Philip J

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/0k225b512