Previous research has linked parents' social support to decreased child maltreatment, but questions remain surrounding the mechanisms explaining this association. Furthermore, it is unclear whether this association applies to support provided by family alone (and not friends), and whether it is moderated by the presence of neighborhood violence.…

Neighborhood research has increasingly emphasized the potential for contextual characteristics to moderate the effects of youths' experiences on their outcomes. Drawing on collective efficacy theory, we examine the variable consequences of youths' exposures to life-threatening violence across neighborhoods. We argue that strong community normative…

Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), we identified a significant inverse association between the variety of youth organizations available at the neighborhood level and adolescents' exposure to community violence. We examined two non-competing explanations for this finding. First, at the individual…

In a study of 1,344 urban adolescents, the authors examined the relation between participation in organized sports and juvenile delinquency. They compared youth who participated in sports to those who only participated in nonathletic activities and to those who did not participate in any organized activities. They also examined the indirect…