Urban African American Youth Research Articles

Social Messages, Social Context, and Teen Sexual Health: Voices of Urban African American Youth

Social Messages, Social Context, and Teen Sexual Health: Voices of Urban African American Youth

A Preventive Intervention Program for Urban African American Youth Attending an Alternative Education Program: Background, Implementation, and Feasibility.

This paper presents background, implementation, and feasibility findings associated with planning and conducting an after-school intervention program in an alternative education setting designed to prevent the initiation and escalation of violence and substance abuse among urban African American youth at high risk for life-long problem behaviors. Evolving from earlier preventive interventions implemented in clinic and school settings, the program, entitled The Village Model of Care, consisted of structured group mentoring, parental support, and community outreach services administered to alternative education students and their primary caregiver(s) during the school year. Over a two-year intake period, 109 youth participated in the present process evaluation study. Findings from the study not only provided relevant demographic information on the characteristics of youth likely to be included in such programs but also indicated the importance of including the family in the rehabilitation effort and the need for school administrative system support for the underlying alternative education approach. The information presented in this report has a direct bearing on the planning of future prevention efforts conducted in similar settings that are aimed at reducing problem behaviors and promoting positive lifestyles among high-risk youth.

Racial and emotional factors predicting teachers' perceptions of classroom behavioral maladjustment for urban African American male youth

AbstractThe present study investigated the predictive influence of students' reactive emotional coping and racial socialization experiences on teachers' perceptions of classroom behavior adjustment problems. Participants were 148 African American male youth attending a secondary school in a large northeastern city. Behavioral outcomes included teacher ratings of student behavioral overactivity in different classroom situations. Results using hierarchical regression analyses show that measures of social rejection sensitivity, anger expression, and racial socialization predict teacher‐observed behavioral overactivity, with overt anger expression being the most powerful predictor. Findings suggest that racial socialization and particular styles of emotional coping are important determinants for teachers' impressions of classroom behavior for some African American adolescent males. Implications for future research and interventions with African American male youth in urban secondary schools are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exposure to violence and aggression: protective roles of social support among urban African American youth

AbstractThis cross‐sectional study examined the impact of social support on the relation between exposure to violence and aggressive behavior, as reported by self, peers, and teachers. The main‐effects and stress‐buffering models of social support were tested for parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends among 127 urban, African American youth. The results demonstrate the negative impact of violence exposure on aggressive behavior and the complex roles of social support in these relations. Specifically, more perceived support from parents, teachers, and close friends was associated with lower teacher‐reported aggressive behavior, whereas classmate support buffered the impact of violence on peer‐reported aggressive behavior. These findings, multiple reporter differences, and implications for preventive interventions are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Preliminary Findings on a Brief Friendship-Based HIV/STI Intervention for Urban African American Youth: Project ÒRÉ

This study presents preliminary findings of a brief friendship-based HIV/STI prevention intervention for urban African American youth. Using a no-control design, we found that the program is feasible, acceptable, and demonstrates promise with regard to changes in HIV/STI-related knowledge, beliefs, social norms, and behavior.

Assessing the Moderating Effects of Anxiety Sensitivity on Antisocial Behavior among Urban African American Youth

African American adolescents are a vulnerable population, overrepresented in the juvenile justice system and underserved by mental health providers. Consequently, a disproportionate number of African American youth in the juvenile justice system have diagnosable mental health problems. This study investigates whether, among African American adolescents, the effects of attitude towards deviance, self-efficacy, and exposure to delinquent peers on antisocial behavior are moderated by anxiety sensitivity. A sample of 238 African American adolescents ages 13-19 from 3 public housing developments participated in this study. Results indicated that 40% of the adolescents reported no involvement in antisocial behaviors. Gender, anxiety sensitivity, and attitudes towards deviance were significant correlates of antisocial behavior. Interaction effects indicate that the relative impact of attitudes towards deviance and exposure to delinquent peers on antisocial behaviors is contingent upon adolescents' level of anxiety sensitivity. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Factors Associated with Perceived Parental Academic Monitoring in a Population of Low-Income, African American Young Adolescents

Adolescent academic achievement is closely linked to numerous health outcomes. Studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between parental academic monitoring and adolescent academic achievement. Less is known about factors associated with parental academic monitoring, and research is particularly lacking with low-income, African American young adolescents who are at high risk for school disengagement and underachievement.Data were collected from a sample of incoming urban sixth graders using a computer- assisted questionnaire. Data were analyzed as cross-sectional using the responses of 111 African American adolescents, ages 10–14 years. The median responses of adolescents about perceptions of parental academic monitoring were used to classify adolescents into two groups, lower and higher perceived academic monitoring. Logistic regression and stratified analyses determined factors related to higher parental academic monitoring.Adolescents’ perceived parental general support (OR: 2.08, CI: 1.29–3.36) and friends’ pro-social behavior (OR: 1.54, CI: 1.03–2.30), were significant factors in the multivariate model. Also, adolescents living with one biological parent and with other adults were more likely to report higher parental academic monitoring, compared to adolescents living with one biological parent and no other adults (OR: 3.58, CI: 1.00–12.83).Perceptions of general parental support and peer groups offer insight into why parental academic monitoring allows only some African American urban youth to succeed academically. Parental support provides a context that influences youths’ perceptions of their parents’ academic monitoring and should be considered in future research. Results identify factors in a high-risk population that may help explain why some urban youth succeed academically while others do not.

The Challenge of Transporting Family-Based Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse from Research to Urban Community Settings

Motivated by concerns about the extent to which urban African American youth under-report substance abuse, the extent to which they are over-represented in drug-related criminal justice settings, and the extent to which research on adolescent substance abuse treatment has lagged in settings serving urban minority populations, the authors comment on some factors to consider when conducting family-based interventions and research with such populations. They offer recommendations based on experience implementing a community-based treatment program for urban substance-abusing adolescents, patient demographic data gathered from the program, and their attempt at adding a family-based treatment component to the program.

Parenting as a Moderator of Minority, Adolescent Victimization and Violent Behavior in High-Risk Neighborhoods

Adolescent male youth in high-crime neighborhoods are at the greatest risk for personal victimization and violent behavior. The temporal relationship between victimization and violent behavior for minority youth in high-crime neighborhoods was examined to determine whether victimization is a risk factor for or by-product of violent behavior. Whether parenting and other control factors moderated the relationship between victimization and violent behavior was also examined. Interviews with 349 urban Hispanic and African American youth revealed that victimization was strongly associated with violent behavior and violent behavior was found to precede direct victimization. Race was found to moderate the relationship between parental attachment and violent behavior. African American youth with the highest levels of parental attachment also had the highest levels of violent behavior, while higher parental attachment for Latino youth was associated with lower violent behavior.

Family-Based HIV Preventive Intervention

Summary Social indicators suggest that African American adolescents are in the highest risk categories of those contracting HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2001). The dramatic impact of HIV/AIDS on urban African American youth have influenced community leaders and policy makers to place high priority on programming that can prevent youth's exposure to the virus (Pequegnat & Szapocznik, 2000). Program developers are encouraged to design programs that reflect the developmental ecology of urban youth (Tolan, Gorman-Smith, & Henry, 2003). This often translates into three concrete programmatic features: (1) Contextual relevance; (2) Developmental-groundedness; and (3) Systemic Delivery. Because families are considered to be urban youth's best hope to grow up and survive multiple dangers in urban neighborhoods (Pequegnat& Szapocznik, 2000), centering prevention within families may ensure that youth receive ongoing support, education, and messages that can increase their capacity to negotiate peer situations involving sex. This paper will present preliminary data from an HIV/AIDS prevention program that is contextually relevant, developmentally grounded and systematically-delivered. The collaborative HIV/AIDS Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP) is aimed at decreasing HIV/AIDS risk exposure among a sample of African American youth living in a poverty-stricken, inner-city community in Chicago. This study describes results from this family-based HIV preventive intervention and involves 88 African American pre-adolescents and their primary caregivers. We present results for the intervention group at baseline and post intervention. We compare post test results to a community comparison group of youth. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Addressing Urban African American Youth Externalizing and Social Problem Behavioral Difficulties in a Family Oriented Prevention Project

Summary The current article examines the secondary effects of an inner-city Community-University Collaborative HIV-Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Family Program (CHAMP) in reducing externalizing (i.e., aggressive and rule-breaking behavior) and social problem behaviors for children with significant levels of externalizing behavior. Data were provided by parents for a sample of 50 youth assigned to the CHAMP Family Program and 299 comparison children. Among the CHAMP Family Program participants at pretest, 40% (n = 20) of parents reported their children exhibited significant levels of externalizing behavior. Among the comparison group, 38% (n = 113) of parents reported their children exhibited significant levels of externalizing behavior. There was a significant reduction in child externalizing scores for children in the CHAMP Family Program from pretest to posttest, bringing their mean scores of externalizing behavior from clinical to sub-clinical levels. Posttest only comparisons revealed that children in the CHAMP Family Program had significantly lower externalizing behavior scores than children in the comparison group. Analyses of child social problems indicated mixed results. Implications for urban mental health and prevention programs are discussed.

Understanding African American Youth HIV Knowledge

Summary This article presents the results of a study examining correlates of urban African American youth HIV knowledge. The influence of family level factors (e.g., family communication, parental AIDS knowledge and myths regarding HIV transmission, along with family composition and family income) are examined. In addition, the current study explores the influence of racial socialization processes, specifically the influence of religious/spiritual coping, extended family caring, cultural pride reinforcement and racial awareness teaching (Stevenson, 1994; 1995; 1997) on youth HIV knowledge. Multivariate analyses revealed a significant association between youth HIV knowledge and being reared in a single parent home. Further, in every model, controlling for all types of racial socialization processes, family communication was significantly associated with youth HIV knowledge. Implications are drawn regarding the development of culturally and contextually specific HIV prevention programming for African American youth and their families.

Risk and protective factors for urban African‐American youth

The present study investigated risk and resilience processes in a sample of urban African-American youth. Risk and protective factors were assessed across ecological levels including individual, family and community. Both externalizing and internalizing symptomatology were included as measures of child adjustment. Youth and parental reports as well as various methods, such as the Experience Sampling Method, were used to capture the daily experiences of the adolescents from different perspectives. Poverty, hassles, and exposure to violence predicted higher rates of externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Individual and family protective variables emerged as powerful sources of resilience. An inner sense of confidence and helpful family support were associated with reductions in the deleterious effects of community poverty. Two main patterns, protective-stabilizing and overwhelming-risk, seemed to characterize most of the risk by protective factor interactions. The present findings are important for understanding the complex experiences of urban youth and furthering the literature on sources of risk and protection for African-Americans.

A web-based, tailored asthma management program for urban African-American high school students.

Urban African-American youth, aged 15-19 years, have asthma fatality rates that are higher than in whites and younger children, yet few programs target this population. Traditionally, urban youth are believed to be difficult to engage in health-related programs, both in terms of connecting and convincing. Develop and evaluate a multimedia, web-based asthma management program to specifically target urban high school students. The program uses "tailoring," in conjunction with theory-based models, to alter behavior through individualized health messages based on the user's beliefs, attitudes, and personal barriers to change. High school students reporting asthma symptoms were randomized to receive the tailored program (treatment) or to access generic asthma websites (control). The program was made available on school computers. Functional status and medical care use were measured at study initiation and 12 months postbaseline, as were selected management behaviors. The intervention period was 180 days (calculated from baseline). A total of 314 students were randomized (98% African American, 49% Medicaid enrollees; mean age, 15.2 yr). At 12 months, treatment students reported fewer symptom-days, symptom-nights, school days missed, restricted-activity days, and hospitalizations for asthma when compared with control students; adjusted relative risk and 95% confidence intervals were as follows: 0.5 (0.4-0.8), p = 0.003; 0.4 (0.2-0.8), p = 0.009; 0.3 (0.1-0.7), p = 0.006; 0.5 (0.3-0.8), p = 0.02; and 0.2 (0.2-0.9), p = 0.01, respectively. Positive behaviors were more frequently noted among treatment students compared with control students. Cost estimates for program delivery were $6.66 per participating treatment group student. A web-based, tailored approach to changing negative asthma management behaviors is economical, feasible, and effective in improving asthma outcomes in a traditionally hard-to-reach population.

Youth United Through Health Education: Community-Level, Peer-Led Outreach to Increase Awareness and Improve Noninvasive Sexually Transmitted Infection Screening in Urban African American Youth

Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of the Youth United Through Health Education (YUTHE) program, a community-level, peer-led outreach program to increase awareness and improve noninvasive sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening in youth residing in the targeted community. Methods Sexually experienced youth, aged 12–22 years, anonymously participated in the YUTHE program (a 15-minute encounter, including a risk assessment with feedback and prevention messages). A street- and venue-based intercept approach using a nonequivalent control group design was implemented to evaluate the YUTHE program. Results YUTHE community respondents were more likely to know that STIs could be asymptomatic (odds ratios [OR] 1.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08–1.72), know about urine-based STI screening tests (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.04–1.72), perceive themselves to be at risk for STIs (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.11–2.62), and worried about acquiring an STI (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.04–2.18). No other community differences were identified. However, respondents who reported a single contact (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.11–4.03) or multiple contacts (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.81–4.26) with the YUTHE program were more likely to have been tested for STIs in the previous six months. Conclusions We did not accomplish our overall goal of increasing STI screening in our outreach community relative to the comparison community; our findings suggest that a peer-led, street- and venue-based community outreach approach is a feasible means for reaching large numbers of adolescents for STI prevention.

Competence, Self-esteem, and Coping Efficacy as Mediators of Ecological Risk and Depressive Symptoms in Urban African American and European American Youth

Structural equation modeling was used to test [Sandler, American Journal of Community Psychology 29: 19–61.] a theoretical model of risk and resilience in an urban sample of African American and European American adolescents. The aims of the present study were to examine whether self-system processes (i.e., competence, self-esteem, and coping efficacy) mediated the relations between ecological risk and depressive symptoms and to determine if pathways varied across ethnic/racial groups. Results implicate self-esteem as a putative mediator of the impact of ecological risk on depressive symptoms for both African American and European American youth. In addition, coping efficacy was a mediator of the link between ecological risk and depressive symptoms for African American youth, but not for European American youth. The evidence supporting competence as a significant mediator of the relation between ecological risk and depressive symptoms was less compelling. Findings suggest substantial similarities in the pathways between ecological risk and depressive symptoms across African American and European American youth.

Predictors of Psychosocial Well-Being in Urban African American and European American Youth: The Role of Ecological Factors

Hierarchical regression analyses were used to identify factors that functioned as either promotive or protective factors against the impact of ecological risk on the psychological adjustment of 112 African American and 94 European American adolescents (13–19 years of age). Indicators of ecological risk, promotive/protective factors, and adjustment were assessed concurrently via adolescent self-report questionnaires. Supportive parenting emerged as a promotive factor for both African American and European American adolescents for academic achievement, competence, and problem behaviors. Additionally, school connectedness served as a promotive factor for both African American and European American adolescents with competence as the criterion. However, in analyses with problem behaviors as the criterion, school connectedness intensified the effect of ecological risk for European American adolescents. Of the three hypothesized positive factors (supportive parenting, ethnic identity, and school connectedness), only ethnic identity emerged as a protective factor for problem behaviors and this effect was only observed for European American adolescents.

Predictors of Early Substance Use Among African American and Caucasian Youth From Urban and Suburban Communities

The deleterious effects of early substance use have been well documented. Past research has produced mixed results regarding the extent to which the profile of risk differs for urban African American and suburban Caucasian youth. Sixth graders from urban (n = 420; 92% African American) and suburban (n = 391; 89% Caucasian) schools in metropolitan Detroit completed surveys at the beginning and end of the school year. More similarities than differences were found in hierarchical multiple regression analyses predicting substance use among these two groups of students. For both groups, peer pressure susceptibility and school commitment were significantly related to substance use. For girls only, participation in after-school activities was negatively associated with substance use. The importance of prevention programs in the transition to middle school is discussed.

Structure of anxiety and depression in urban youth: an examination of the tripartite model.

In this study, the authors examined the validity of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression in a community epidemiological sample of 467 urban African American youth. Participants completed the Baltimore How I Feel, a measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms, in Grades 6 and 9. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a 3-factor model representing the tripartite model fit the data well and better than competing models. Longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis revealed configural invariance of the tripartite factor structure. However, a predicted divergence among dimensions over time was not evidenced. High correlations among the tripartite dimensions suggest that anxiety and mood symptoms may not differentiate in urban youth. Results are discussed in terms of the ethnicity and urban context of this community sample.

Drug Trafficking and Urban African American Youth: Risk Factors for PTSD

This article examines how African American youths (ages 12–17) who are raised in neighborhoods that are centers for illegal drug trade and drug dealing (trafficking, running) cope with violent events such as shooting, stabbings and other intentional injuries. Using qualitative research methods, the study explores urban youths' perceptions of drug trafficking and related activities in their neighborhoods. The study then explores issues of personal encounters with traumatic events related to drug trafficking activities (shootings, stabbings, deaths, other violence) in their community. Finally, the study discusses implications of findings for risk and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) among these youths.