Beyond the family: Peer and neighborhood contexts buffer the effects of childhood threat and deprivation on adolescent functioning
Article
Hare, MM, Fava, NM, Trucco, EM. (2026). Beyond the family: Peer and neighborhood contexts buffer the effects of childhood threat and deprivation on adolescent functioning
. Child Abuse and Neglect, 176 10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.108049
Hare, MM, Fava, NM, Trucco, EM. (2026). Beyond the family: Peer and neighborhood contexts buffer the effects of childhood threat and deprivation on adolescent functioning
. Child Abuse and Neglect, 176 10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.108049
Background: Little research has examined whether adaptive socialization contexts outside the family buffer distinct adversity dimensions reflecting the threat-deprivation framework, particularly in relation to the understudied construct of sexual body-esteem. Objective: Grounded in the threat and deprivation framework, we examined whether positive peer involvement and neighborhood social cohesion buffer the impact of childhood threat and deprivation on internalizing and externalizing problems and sexual body-esteem. Participants and setting: The sample was comprised of 264 adolescents (Mage = 14.9, 50.8% female, 86.4% white, 84.5% Hispanic) and their caregivers. Participants completed two waves of a longitudinal study. Method: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) derived latent threat and deprivation dimensions and their subdomains (home vs. community threat; basic needs vs. caregiver neglect deprivation). Next, we examined whether positive peer involvement and neighborhood social cohesion moderated the effect of childhood adversity on adolescent functioning. Results: CFAs supported distinct threat and deprivation subdimensions. Community threat positively predicted externalizing problems (p = .016) and basic needs deprivation negatively predicted internalizing problems (p = .016). The direct effort of neighborhood social cohesion on sexual body-esteem was also significant (p = .004). The moderating role of neighborhood social cohesion in the association between basic needs deprivation and internalizing (p = .023) and externalizing (p = .016) problems was supported, as well as the association between home threat and externalizing problems (p < .001). Positive peer involvement moderated the association between home threat and sexual body-esteem (p = .034). Conclusions: Findings highlight the role of protective factors in mitigating the impact of childhood adversity on adolescent functioning.
