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The effects of violence exposure on the development of impulse control and future orientation across adolescence and early adulthood: Time-specific and generalized effects in a sample of juvenile offenders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2015

Kathryn C. Monahan ,
Kevin M. King ,
Elizabeth P. Shulman ,
Elizabeth Cauffman  and
Laurie Chassin
Kathryn C. Monahan*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Kevin M. King
Affiliation:
University of Washington
Elizabeth P. Shulman
Affiliation:
Brock University
Elizabeth Cauffman
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Laurie Chassin
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Kathryn C. Monahan, Department of Psychology, Sennott Square, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260; E-mail: monahan@pitt.edu.
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Abstract

Impulse control and future orientation increase across adolescence, but little is known about how contextual factors shape the development of these capacities. The present study investigates how stress exposure, operationalized as exposure to violence, alters the developmental pattern of impulse control and future orientation across adolescence and early adulthood. In a sample of 1,354 serious juvenile offenders, higher exposure to violence was associated with lower levels of future orientation at age 15 and suppressed development of future orientation from ages 15 to 25. Increases in witnessing violence or victimization were linked to declines in impulse control 1 year later, but only during adolescence. Thus, beyond previous experiences of exposure to violence, witnessing violence and victimization during adolescence conveys unique risk for suppressed development of self-regulation.

Information

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 27 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2015 , pp. 1267 - 1283
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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