An 8-year study found African-Americans had the highest level of exposure to risk factors that could lead to behavioral problems, but do not engage in bad behavior at higher rates than other groups.
The finding by community-clinical psychologists at the University of Virginia, University of Pittsburgh, the University of Oregon and Oxford University, is published in the current edition of the journal Prevention Science.
The investigators followed a sample of participants at high risk for conduct disorders in Pittsburgh and in rural areas outside of Charlottesville and Eugene, Ore.
Risks included such factors as frequent moves, low or fluctuating family incomes, substance abuse by parents, absence of fathers, and living in dangerous neighborhoods. Acting-out behaviors would include defiant, noncompliant actions such as disrupting classrooms and hitting peers.
“We found that the African-American youths were exposed to more risk factors than the white or Hispanic populations in all three regions,” said Melvin Wilson, a professor of psychology at U.Va., who led the study. “But we discovered that they were no more vulnerable to child behavior problems than the other two populations.
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