Assessing the Interpersonal Dynamics of Violence Exposure

Wayne State University, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary Over 60% of 12-17 year olds directly experience interpersonal violence in their lifetimes, and rates are even higher in disadvantaged neighborhoods. A wealth of data links youth interpersonal violence exposure to maladjustment. In middle adolescence, this includes problems with emotion regulation, interpersonal functioning, mental health, and health risk behaviors. Yet, not all violence-exposed adolescents develop problems; and many theorists and researchers consider the violence dynamics of betrayal, stigmatization, and powerlessness (BSP) to play a central role in determining which violence-exposed youth will develop problems. BSP may be especially malignant for adolescents, because they are thought to impede core developmental tasks associated with establishing healthy relationships and regulating emotion. Such difficulties, in turn, can increase risk for mental health and interpersonal problems. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of developmentally informed research on violence exposure, BSP, and psychosocial adjustment during middle adolescence, leaving critical gaps in knowledge about: (a) relations between violence exposure and BSP during adolescence; and (b) how BSP dynamics contribute to adolescents? mental health or interpersonal problems. One reason for this gap is methodological limitations in the measures and procedures available to assess BSP among adolescents. Perhaps the most significant limitation is a nearly exclusive reliance on retrospective, self-report questionnaires that lack developmental sensitivity. The proposed study will employ virtual reality (VR) technology to create real-time, ecologically valid, and engaging assessments of BSP. This will be the first attempt to provide real-time assessments of BSP dynamics within age-salient interpersonal contexts. Whereas questionnaire measures ask adolescents to make abstract, summative assessments about BSP, VR allows researchers to observe their enactment in age-salient interactions. Findings will improve knowledge of how adolescents manifest BSP in everyday life, which could help bridge meta-theories about violence dynamics with mid-level theories connecting observable manifestations of BSP to concurrent and subsequent adjustment. The VR assessment will be easily portable, so it can be disseminated broadly to researchers to further advance theory and research on the cascading effects of violence exposure on mental health and the negotiation of stage-salient tasks during adolescence and into adulthood. Additionally, given the importance of these dynamics in evidence-based treatments with violence-exposed youth, this method can be incorporated in clinical research designed to offer new insights in how these treatments work.