The Role of Specific Emotion Dysregulation Facets in the Association Between Child Violence Exposure and Psychopathology

Clinical Impact Statement This study showed that emotion dysregulation serves as an indirect pathway between community violence exposure and psychopathology in Black youth but that the type of emotion dysregulation matters in predicting externalizing versus internalizing outcomes. Children's anger dysregulation served as an indirect pathway between exposure to community violence and externalizing behaviors, while worry dysregulation served as an indirect pathway between exposure to community violence and internalizing symptoms. Emotion dysregulation may serve as an important treatment target in reducing adverse outcomes associated with violence exposure in urban communities of color, and understanding emotion-specific pathways of risk may allow for tailored treatments. Objective: African Americans living in low-income urban environments are disproportionately exposed to violence compared to other racial groups. Child exposure to community violence is linked to adverse psychological outcomes, including externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Emotion dysregulation may be one psychological process through which externalizing and internalizing behaviors develop in the context of childhood violence exposure. However, limited research exists on how different aspects of emotion dysregulation are affected by community violence exposure in children. Method: The present study examined whether violence exposure was indirectly associated with externalizing and internalizing behaviors via facets of emotion dysregulation in a sample of 94 African American mother-child dyads. Mothers and children completed measures to assess child community violence exposure, externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and emotion dysregulation (anger, sadness, and worry dysregulation). Results: Results indicated that maternal report of child community violence exposure was indirectly associated with externalizing behaviors via anger dysregulation and internalizing behaviors via worry dysregulation. Child report of community violence exposure was also indirectly associated with externalizing behavior via anger dysregulation; however, there were no significant associations with internalizing behavior. Conclusions: These findings suggest that certain components of emotion dysregulation serve as an indirect pathway of influence for community violence exposure on child behavior, and the pathways differ between externalizing and internalizing behavior outcomes. Emotion dysregulation may serve as an important potential treatment target in reducing long-term risks associated with violence exposure in urban communities of color.