Collective Efficacy: A Resilience Factor to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Externalizing Behaviors

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect a third of all children in the United States. However, less is understood about how specific aspects of ACEs, such as household dysfunction, influence the behavioral development of children as they enter adolescence and whether collective efficacy can buffer this relationship. This study used longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (n = 11,868, baseline Mage = 9.9, SDage = 0.6, 52% male; 52% White, 20% Hispanic, 15% Black, 2% Asian, and 11% Other race/ethnicity). Multiple regression analyses suggested that baseline household dysfunction positively predicted externalizing behaviors two and three years later, and that these associations were attenuated by high levels of collective efficacy at the two-year follow-up. These findings suggest the joint roles of household- and neighborhood-level contexts in shaping adolescent behavioral health and indicate that collective efficacy can serve as a promotive and protective resilience factor in the trajectory of externalizing behaviors.