Developmental risks and psychosocial adjustment among low-income Brazilian youth

Authors

Marcela Raffaelli, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Silvia H. Koller, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil
Elder Cerqueria-Santos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil
Normanda Araujo De Morais, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 2007

Comments

Published in Development and Psychopathology 19 (2007), 565-584. Copyright 2007 Cambridge University Press. Used by permission.

Abstract

Exposure to developmental risks in three domains (community, economic, and family), and relations between risks and psychosocial well-being, were examined among 918 impoverished Brazilian youth aged 14-19 (M = 15.8 years, 51.9% female) recruited in low-income neighborhoods in one city in Southern Brazil. High levels of developmental risks were reported, with levels and types of risks varying by gender, age, and (to a lesser extent) race. Associations between levels of risks in the various domains and indicators of psychological (e.g., self-esteem, negative emotionality) and behavioral (e.g., substance use) adjustment differed for male and female respondents. Findings build on prior research investigating the development of young people in conditions of pervasive urban poverty and reinforce the value of international research in this endeavor.