Exposure to Community Violence, Parental Involvement, and Aggression Among Immigrant Adolescents

Although exposure to community violence and parental involvement have been previously found to independently predict aggressive behaviors, the interaction effect is less clear. Additionally, unique associations between exposure to community violence and reactive and proactive aggression, two widely-studied forms of aggression, in the context of parental involvement has yet to be examined. One population that may be of particular interest for such an investigation is immigrant adolescents, a population at increased risk of experiencing community violence and developing aggression. The current study therefore examined the joint and interactive contribution of community violence and parental involvement in the explanation of reactive and proactive forms of aggression among 81 immigrant adolescents (M _age  = 15.44). As expected, exposure to community violence was positively associated with both reactive and proactive aggression. Parental involvement, however, was not associated with either form of aggression. Further, the association between exposure to community violence and proactive aggression was found to vary by level of parental involvement. Contrary to expectations, when levels of parental involvement were high, there was a positive association between exposure to community violence and proactive aggression and no association when levels of parental involvement were low. Results have important implications for understanding unique developmental pathways and distinct correlates of reactive and proactive aggression among immigrant adolescents.