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Tier 2: Cross-Sectional Studies of Mediators, Process-Oriented Moderators, and Social-Ecological Contexts

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Political Violence, Armed Conflict, and Youth Adjustment

Abstract

Research meeting criteria for Tier 2 expands beyond Tier 1 by exploring the processes that moderate and/or mediate the effects of political violence and armed conflict on youth adjustment in multiple contexts worldwide. This research thus provides an important source of hypotheses and directions for future research about factors that may explain child outcomes, including study of the effects on youth functioning in the contexts of the family, school, community, and culture, that is, multiple levels of the social ecology. In this chapter, we discuss noteworthy findings and patterns of research designs from this body of work. This work highlights the importance of different levels of the social ecology in influencing child outcomes, including the role of individual characteristics and social-ecological factors (i.e., family, school, and community). We provide t extensive information on a diverse, noteworthy group of Tier 2 studies in Table 4.1, providing a valuable, handy reference for a group of the best studies at this level of investigation (e.g., region sampled, assessment timing, participants sampled, measures, and major findings).

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Correspondence to E. Mark Cummings .

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Cummings, E.M., Merrilees, C.E., Taylor, L.K., Mondi, C.F. (2017). Tier 2: Cross-Sectional Studies of Mediators, Process-Oriented Moderators, and Social-Ecological Contexts. In: Political Violence, Armed Conflict, and Youth Adjustment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51583-0_5

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