Youth In Baltimore Research Articles

Virtual Implementation of a Photovoice Project With Youth in Baltimore During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This article describes the virtual implementation of Photovoice activities conducted as part of a project that sought to gather youths' perspectives on neighborhood and housing conditions, community redevelopment, and health and well-being in Baltimore. We discuss the original in-person design and how activities were implemented virtually, in light of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) physical distancing guidelines. Challenges to virtual implementation included establishing rapport with youth and families during recruitment and data collection, encouraging active participation during discussion sessions, and varying technological skills among youth. Facilitators of virtual implementation included partnering with a community organization, piloting virtual sessions to assess participant's technology skills, and providing various ways for youth to participate during discussion sessions, engage in group activities, and receive hands-on instruction. This article showcases the ways in which virtual implementation of Photovoice activities can be successfully implemented with youth and provides recommendations for future Photovoice projects that include virtual activities.

A Baltimore Benevolence Thing? American Philanthropy, Neoliberal Fitness, and the Persistence of “Colorblind” Racial Silencing

Drawing upon 3 years of fieldwork with a nonprofit fitness education development program targeting “at-risk” Baltimore youth, this article examines pedagogical barriers rooted in the perceived, and materially experienced, differences of race, gender, class, and culture. Set within the confines of increasingly privatized spaces of fitness/health in a starkly divided Baltimore, MD, this study demonstrated how interventions were rooted in a self-congratulatory and neocolonial benevolence—steeped in a largely unacknowledged form of neoliberal individualism—which routinely denied and silenced impacts of racism. Observations of instructor–student interaction revealed substantial disconnects concerning definitions of the body, fitness, and significance of race in health disparities, resulting in student refusal and program cessation. Given the power dynamics between white fitness-philanthropists and Black youth, the author, as active participant–observer, occupied a liminal space where considerations of authenticity and immersion became critical.

“What Do You Consider Use?” Perspectives of Black Youth on Cannabis Use

PurposeAdolescent health surveillance systems are critical for understanding patterns of cannabis use; however, their limitations underscore the need for studies that generate new insights, particularly from individuals who are most impacted by negative outcomes. Our objectives were to learn about youths' cannabis use and their perceptions of their peers' cannabis use; their perspectives about trajectories of cannabis use over time and factors that influence trajectories; and perceived risks and benefits associated with cannabis use. MethodsA group model building approach was used to gather data about cannabis use from a sample of urban, Black youth. Information about participants' cannabis use was assessed on eligibility screener, enrollment survey, and through structured activities over the course of four group model building workshops. ResultsParticipants [(n = 20) mean age 18; 35% male and 95% Black] exclusively used the terms weed and blunts for cannabis. Youth who consume peers' blunts would not characterize themselves as cannabis users. Collectively, youth estimated the majority of Baltimore youth used cannabis by age 16 and that most used daily. Youth described cannabis as more beneficial than harmful. There were no gender differences in prevalence of use, but there were gender dynamics to shared use. DiscussionParticipatory research with urban, Black youth suggests youths' perceptions are misaligned with the ways that researchers conceptualize cannabis use. To better understand the scope of youth cannabis use and its harms, it is critical to leverage input from youth with lived experience to ensure survey tools adequately capture the way youth see themselves using cannabis.

Inequitable Housing Practices and Youth Internalizing Symptoms: Mediation Via Perceptions of Neighborhood Cohesion.

Disordered urban environments negatively impact mental health symptoms and disorders. While many aspects of the built environment have been studied, one influence may come from inequitable, discriminatory housing practices such as redlining, blockbusting, and gentrification. The patterns of disinvestment and reinvestment that follow may be an underlying mechanism predicting poor mental health. In this study, we examine pathways between such practices and internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxiety and depression) among a sample of African American youth in Baltimore, Maryland, considering moderation and mediation pathways including neighborhood social cohesion and sex. In our direct models, the inequitable housing practices were not significant predictors of social cohesion. In our sex moderation model, however, we find negative influences on social cohesion: for girls from gentrification, and for boys from blockbusting. Our moderated mediation model shows that girls in gentrifying neighborhoods who experience lower social cohesion have higher levels of internalizing symptoms. Likewise for boys, living in a formerly blockbusted neighborhood generates poorer social cohesion, which in turn drives higher rates of internalizing symptoms. A key implication of this work is that, in addition to standard measures of the contemporary built environment, considering other invisible patterns related to discriminatory and inequitable housing practices is important in understanding the types of neighborhoods where anxiety and depression are more prevalent. And while some recent work has discussed the importance of considering phenomena like redlining in considering long-term trajectories of neighborhoods, other patterns such as blockbusting and gentrification may be equally important.

Qualitative exploration of PCPs’ mental health role for LGBT youth in Baltimore: a socio-ecological lens

LGBT youth experience disproportionate rates of mental health diagnoses, including depression and anxiety. Using qualitative interviews of LGBT youth (n = 14) and primary care providers (n = 12), we sought to identify whether mental health discussions with a primary care provider were perceived as overall beneficial. Most LGBT youth felt comfortable being asked about depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions by their primary care provider. All felt it appropriate to provide this information by survey or tablet. However, youth participants’ comfort depended on feeling connected with and accepted by their provider. Those that did feel comfortable, perceived a benefit when these conversations did happen. Providers unanimously described wanting to address mental health needs in LGBT youth, either in terms of societal advancement, or clinic-based changes. Both LGBT youth and primary care providers appeared to want more mental health discussions during visits. However, more connectedness may be needed to improve willingness to engage in care; and providers may require specific support to successfully fill this need.

"People Don't Just Start Shooting Heroin on Their 18th Birthday": A Qualitative Study of Community Stakeholders' Perspectives on Adolescent Opioid Use and Opportunities for Intervention in Baltimore, Maryland.

Initiation of non-medical prescription opioid use (NMPO) during early adolescence is tightly linked to heroin and other drug use disorders and related sequelae in later adolescence and young adulthood. Few studies explore stakeholders’ perspectives on the burden and determinants of youth opioid use and barriers and facilitators to engaging youth in opioid use prevention and treatment services in urban settings with longstanding opioid epidemics. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 stakeholders representing health and social service agencies in Baltimore, Maryland from May 2018- February 2019, to examine their perspectives on the burden and context of adolescent opioid use and identify barriers and facilitators to preventing and responding to adolescent opioid use. Transcripts were analyzed using the constant comparison method to identify themes. Most respondents described a recent uptick in opioid use independently, and in combination with other substances. As compared to heroin, NMPO was perceived to be more frequently used and less stigmatized among youth. Stakeholders perceived the process of transitioning from using NMPO to heroin as more common among White vs. Black youth and was perceived as occurring faster among White vs. Black youth. Some stakeholders believed racial differences in internal stigma against heroin use, and differential health service use among Black youth and White youth may have influenced these differences. Trauma and poverty were noted determinants of youth opioid use. Barriers to service provision included youth cognitive development, stigma and structural factors (e.g., disinvestment, lack of youth-centered and integrated services). Stakeholders perceive prevalent NMPO among Baltimore youth and identify multilevel barriers to delivering prevention, treatment and harm reduction services to this population. These findings encourage further investigation of determinants and consequences of opioid use among diverse racial/ethnic groups of youth in urban settings, and development of multilevel, youth-driven and youth-centered approaches to prevention and treatment.

"When Anything Can Happen”: Anticipated Adversity and Postsecondary Decision-Making

We examine how disadvantaged students make postsecondary education decisions, focusing on why they often opt for short, flexible programs that tend to have low returns in the labor market. Prior literature emphasizes information deficits and financial constraints. We draw upon qualitative data collected via open-ended interviews conducted with a sample of economically disadvantaged Black youth in Baltimore. We use these data to develop and explore a complementary narrative: students who have faced instability or hardship in the form of disruptive events, or “adverse shocks” (e.g., violence, eviction or incarceration of a family member), anticipate future shocks that could derail their educational plans. In response, they opt for shorter, more flexible educational programs that they expect they can complete despite anticipated shocks. When possible, we corroborate this narrative using publicly available, large-N data sets such as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Finally, we formalize this narrative as a simple dynamic structural model calibrated using data on education choices and returns. The model clarifies that it is impossible to identify costs of schooling without data on beliefs about the probability of non-completion, thus providing guidance on future data collection priorities. More broadly, our approach demonstrates a novel application of mixed methods research: using qualitative data to aid in the specification of a structural model. This approach could be applied in other contexts where behavior is poorly understood and extant data do not contain all of the information needed to generate and test plausible hypotheses.

Mapping Juvenile Justice: Identifying Existing Structural Barriers to Accessing Probation Services.

The majority of justice-involved youth are placed on probation; however, many of those same youth struggle to comply with probation requirements and are subsequently confined. In Baltimore, 20% of newly committed youth were detained for violations of probation. While there are various reasons youth fail to comply with probation requirements, there have been recent calls to consider the impact of structural and spatial barriers to accessing probation programs and services. Centering the goals of community psychology, we aim to identify how existing structural barriers in Baltimore City may be contributing to social injustice through inequitable access to probation services for youth and their families. In this study, we take a novel, interdisciplinary approach to identify structural or spatial barriers facing justice-involved youth in Baltimore, MD. Specifically, we explore transportation barriers (i.e., vehicle access) and spatial disparities between youth residences and probation office locations. Our findings suggest that there are several barriers facing Baltimore's justice-involved youth that may impact access to and engagement with juvenile probation. Specifically, we found that 1 in 3 youths reside in areas with extremely low levels of vehicle access and where the median household income is 25% below the city median. We also find that the majority of youth live beyond walking distances; many would require lengthy transit commutes. These findings highlight the structural and spatial barriers facing justice-involved youth that may impact access to and engagement with probation services.

Making success tangible: reengaging female opportunity youth in Baltimore, MD.

Opportunity Youth represents over four million young people who are not in school and are unemployed. In Maryland, Baltimore City has the highest rate of youth disconnection. In spite of this, there are limited culturally relevant program models specific to the experiences of urban, African American youth. None focus on the unique needs of young women who are disconnected from school and work. In partnership with two local youth organizations, a 6-week program was co-developed and implemented to address the social and emotional needs of female opportunity youth in Baltimore. The program promoted self-efficacy, fostered a supportive network of trusted adults and increased awareness of resources. Lessons learned included the importance of program flexibility, the value of youth voice in program development, and the need to reframe how success is measured. This case study highlights a novel approach to bolstering the development of female opportunity youth.

Building bridges in police-youth relations through experiential peacebuilding: how reduced threat and increased humanization impact racialized structural and direct violence in Baltimore

ABSTRACT In the United States, trust in law enforcement is plummeting alongside increased crime rates and police-involved killings, primarily of unarmed black men, making this social issue of imminent importance. Moreover, globally, security actor reform and relationship-building between communities and security forces is essential to post-conflict reconstruction and violence prevention. This research examines Outward Bound’s Police Youth Challenge (PYC) program with officers and youth in Baltimore to assess the long-term impact of encounter-based peace education programs that use experiential peacebuilding to bridge divides between youth and security actors. To achieve this goal, interviews, focus groups, and observations were conducted with youth, officers, and key informants, and we conducted analysis of secondary data collected by Outward Bound and external evaluators. We found that PYC reduced intergroup anxiety and threat through building trust and facilitating mutual humanization between the youth and officers, which countered officers’ meta-dehumanization. However, challenges arose in participants generalizing these attitudes to the broader population outside of the contact situation. Consequently, we recommend follow-on activities to sustain transformations and promote their generalization to other out-group members. These findings suggest the importance of utilizing experiential peacebuilding to improve attitudes and relationships between security actors and the local populations they police.

Educational achievement and youth homicide mortality: a City-wide, neighborhood-based analysis

Background and objectiveEducational achievement, particularly among youth, may mitigate risk of exposure to violence and negative related health outcomes such as crime and gang activity. Few studies to date have examined relationships between education and youth homicide. The authors hypothesized association between educational achievement in grades 3 and 8 and youth homicide mortality.MethodsNeighborhood-based, city-wide analysis was conducted of cross-sectional data regarding N = 55 neighborhoods in Baltimore, MD, extracted from Baltimore 2017 Neighborhood Health Profiles.ResultsHigher educational achievement (operationalized by reading proficiency) in third, but not eighth, grade was associated with reduced neighborhood youth homicide mortality rates in hierarchical linear regression, controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors (ß = − 0.5082, p = 0.03), such that each 1.97% increase in proportion of students reading at an acceptable level was associated with one fewer neighborhood youth homicide per 100,000. Neighborhoods within the highest tertile of youth homicide mortality differed from those in the lowest tertile with fewer males (45% vs. 48%, p = 0.002), greater unemployment (17% vs. 8%, p < 0.001), familial poverty (35% vs. 16%, p < 0.001), and residents identifying as black or African-American (88% vs. 25%, p < 0.001). Causal mediation analysis demonstrated mediation effects of familial poverty and eighth grade educational achievement through third grade educational achievement (ACME = 0.151, p = 0.04; ACME = − 0.300, p = 0.03, respectively) with no significant direct effects.ConclusionsHigher educational achievement (operationalized by reading proficiency) predicts reduced homicide mortality among Baltimore youth and appears to mediate effects of familial poverty on homicide mortality as well. This converges with literature highlighting the importance of education as a determinant of social capital and violence. Future policy-based interventions should target inequalities in educational achievement to mitigate homicide risk among youth in communities facing disparities in violent crime.

Characterizing profiles of polysubstance use among high school students in Baltimore, Maryland: A latent class analysis

BackgroundAdolescent drug use has long term health consequences, like substance use disorders and psychiatric illnesses. Proximal health risks, especially for overdose, are amplified when multiple substances are combined. Existing literature on polysubstance use among adolescents has largely focused on alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, but has largely excluded other drugs like opioids. Understanding how adolescents combine illicit drugs is essential for intervening to prevent poor health outcomes. MethodsWe aimed to explore patterns of lifetime polysubstance use among adolescents in Baltimore City. We used data on 9th-12th graders recruited to participate in the 2017 local Baltimore Youth Risk Behavior Survey who reported any lifetime drug use (n = 387; 60 % female, 77 % non-Hispanic Black). We then conducted a latent class analysis using 10 indicators of lifetime drug and alcohol use. After selecting the class model, we tested for associations between the class profiles and race, sex, school grade, and lifetime injection drug use. ResultsWe identified three profiles of lifetime polysubstance use in our sample: alcohol and marijuana (68.6 % of sample), polysubstance (22.0 %), and alcohol/pain medication/inhalant use (9.4 %). Members of the polysubstance use class were more likely to be male and to report injection drug use. ConclusionsUnderstanding broader patterns of drug use beyond alcohol, tobacco and marijuana among adolescents is a crucial step towards preventing adverse drug and health-related outcomes later in life. More research is needed to characterize the full health impact of youth polysubstance use patterns and related risk behaviors like injection drug use.

Twitter, Book, Riot: Post-Digital Publishing against Race

This article considers today’s ‘post-digital’ political publishing through the material forms of an experimental book, The 2015 Baltimore Uprising: A Teen Epistolary. Anonymously published and devoid of all editorial text, the book is comprised entirely of some 650 screen-grabbed tweets, tweets posted by black Baltimore youth during the riots that ensued on the police killing of Freddie Gray. It is a crisis-ridden book, bearing the wrenching anti-black terror and rebellion of Baltimore 2015 into the horizon of publishing. Drawing on critical theories of books and digital media, and bringing Saidiya Hartman and Frank Wilderson to bear on issues of publishing, the article appraises seven aspects of this book’s materiality: its epistolary structure and rupture with the book-as-closure; its undoing of the commodity form of books; the ‘poor image’ of its visual scene; its recourse to facial redaction and voiding of narrative progression; and its destabilization of readers’ empathy.

“That’s My Number One Fear in Life. It’s the Police”: Examining Young Black Men’s Exposures to Trauma and Loss Resulting From Police Violence and Police Killings

Black males are disproportionately the victims of police killings in the United States, yet few studies have examined their personal narratives of trauma and bereavement resulting from police violence. Informed by critical race theory and stress and coping theory, we used a modified grounded theory approach to conduct and analyze in-depth, semistructured life history interviews with 40 young Black men (aged 18-24 years) in Baltimore, Maryland. Study participants were recruited from a GED and job readiness center serving Baltimore youth. Study results offer a nuanced understanding of the patterning and mental health consequences of police violence for young Black men. Participant disclosures of witnessing and experiencing police violence began in childhood and spanned through emerging adulthood, met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth Edition criteria for trauma exposure, and embodied theoretical conceptualizations of racial trauma. Exposures to police violence fostered distrust of police and informed participants’ appraisals of their vulnerability to police violence across the life course. Six study participants disclosed losing loved ones to police killings. Injustice and hypervigilance accompanied grief. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

2. The Risks of Experiencing Discrimination As A Sexual Minority: Variations Across Cultures

To determine whether perceived discrimination of being a sexual minority is associated with substance use and mental health outcomes among adolescents in five urban sites across the world. Data were from female and male adolescents aged 15-19 from Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New Delhi, India; Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Shanghai, China (N=2,339) who participated in Phase 2 of the Well-being of Adolescents in Vulnerable Environments (WAVE) study, which utilized respondent-driven sampling to recruit adolescents for a cross-sectional survey from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in each site. The prevalence and association of sexual orientation and discrimination, substance use (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and illicit drugs), and mental health outcomes (depression and suicidal ideation and attempts) among sexual minority adolescents in the 5 cities is described. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate associations of sexual orientation and discrimination with substance use and mental health outcomes among adolescents in each city. Across all sites, 18.4% of the sample identified as a sexual minority, which ranged from 16% in Johannesburg to 37% in Ibadan. In the bivariate analysis, the prevalence of at least one substance use and/or mental health outcome was significantly higher among sexual minority adolescents than heterosexual adolescents across all 5 cities. Sexual minority youth in Baltimore had significantly worse substance use and mental health outcomes across 6 of the 7 outcomes observed. With the exception of New Delhi, adolescents who perceived discrimination were also significantly more likely to use substances and have poor mental health outcomes, regardless of their sexual orientation. In the logistic regression, a pattern of multiplicative effects emerged across sites, with discrimination compounding the effects of sexual minority status. For example, in Baltimore, sexual minority youth were 3.79 times more likely to report alcohol use in the last 30 days (p<.01; 1.80 – 7.98); yet if they experienced discrimination, they were 8.59 times more likely to report alcohol use in the last 30 days (p<.001; 5.10 – 14.48). Similar patterns were observed for other substance use and mental health outcomes. Sexual minority adolescents, specifically those who perceive discrimination, are at higher odds of substance use and poor mental health outcomes across different urban sites around the world. While the number of outcomes that are impacted is not stable across cities, the pattern is the same. This demonstrates the impact of sexual minority status and subsequent discrimination on the psychological well-being of adolescents, irrespective of the cultural context. Interventions need to focus on not only improving outcomes for sexual minorities, but also reducing discrimination on behalf of others, in both developing and developed countries.

“It’s Hard to Be Around Here”: Criminalization of Daily Routines for Youth in Baltimore

The authors examine how youth in Baltimore experience criminalization in their everyday routines in two key social settings, schools and neighborhoods, and how this can affect their transition to adulthood. Respondents are African Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 who have spent some of their childhood in Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods. The authors conducted qualitative, semistructured, in-depth interviews with 150 respondents. Many of the daily routines of low-income young African Americans are shaped by a punitive culture of formal social control that often results in exposure to microaggressions, which can act as a chronic stressor and negatively affect the transition to adulthood. This analysis adds to our understanding of how daily routines influence the activities, perceptions, and transitions to adulthood of youth who have grown up in poor neighborhoods.

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and invariance assessment of the perceived powerlessness scale among youth in Baltimore.

Generalized perceived powerlessness is an important psychosocial construct that determines a wide range of health behaviors and outcomes. This study has two aims: (1) examine the structure of the newly developed perceived powerlessness scale using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and (2) assess the scale's invariance across key demographic variables using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis among a random household sample of African American and White youth (aged 15-24 years) residing in Baltimore, MD. Our study results demonstrated that the powerlessness scale is valid among a demographically diverse sample of urban youth, showing promise for use in future health behavior and outcome studies.

Comparison of the HEI and HEI-2010 Diet Quality Measures in Association with Chronic Disease Risk among Low-Income, African American Urban Youth in Baltimore, Maryland

ABSTRACT Objective: Overall diet patterns may be a better predictor of disease risk than specific nutrients or individual foods. The purpose of this study is to examine how overall diet patterns relate to nutritional intake, body composition, and physiological measures of chronic disease risk among low-income, urban African American adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from two samples of African American adolescents (n = 317) from a low-income urban community, including dietary intake using the food frequency Youth/Adolescent Questionnaire and anthropometric measures. Serum cholesterol, serum lipoproteins, and glucose tolerance were measured in a subsample. Means testing compared differences in Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and Healthy Eating Index–2010 (HEI-2010) component and total scores. Pearson correlations examined how HEI and HEI-2010 scores related to nutrient, food intakes, and markers of disease risk, including body mass index, percent body fat, abdominal fat, serum cholesterol, serum lipoproteins, and impaired glucose tolerance. Fisher R–Z transformations compared magnitude differences between HEI and HEI-2010 correlations to nutritional intake and chronic disease risk. Results: Both HEI and HEI-2010 scores were positively associated with micronutrient intakes. Higher HEI scores were inversely related to serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, impaired glucose tolerance, percent body fat, and percent abdominal fat. HEI-2010 scores were not related to biomarkers of chronic disease risk. Conclusions: Compared to the HEI-2010, the HEI is a better indicator of chronic disease risk among low-income, urban African American adolescents.

Four elephants in the room: A reflective analysis of the wailing rage displayed by Baltimore youth after Freddie Gray’s death

ABSTRACTEliminating health disparities is our ethical and generational responsibility to protect and promote the health of all Americans. However, we cannot effectively eliminate health disparities in the United States unless we acknowledge and confront the three social culprits that threaten the elimination of health disparities: poverty, racism, and inequities. When addressing communal health, a multigenerational intentionality approach is needed to combat determinants of health. Retrospectively, we used the 2015 wailing rage demonstrated by youth in Baltimore City after the death of Freddie Gray Jr. to introduce our Multigenerational Intentionality to Communal Health conceptual framework. The conceptual framework directs any determinants of health process (i.e. planning, policy, programming, practice, etc.), to decisively utilize the looking backward-thinking forward method to explore the intersectionality of how generational determinants of health (e.g. poverty, racism, disparities and inequities) threaten communal health.

Psychosocial Wellbeing of Black Youth in the Age of Hip-Hop: From Theory to Practice

Introduction: Throngs of young people are disengaging from public “schooling”, opting instead for an alternate reality depicted in popular youth culture (PYC) and popular youth music multimedia (PYMM), in particular. This alternative reality is disturbingly real with images, messages, and stereotypes that may be perceived as promoting highly risky, problem behaviors, while often failing to present the consequences of these behaviors. Adolescents most at risk for negative outcomes in public schools are also most at-risk for negative health and social outcomes, both in and out of school. Clinicians and practitioners concerned with improving health outcomes by promoting healthy lifestyles must address the psychosocial wellbeing of these vulnerable youth. Leveraging the ubiquitous appeal of PYMM for health-enhancing, prosocial learning offers key stakeholders culturally-relevant and culturallyresponsive options that require critical thinking about prevailing themes and messages in popular music. Objective: Two research questions were explored: 1) What are students’ perceptions about the potential influences that PYMM may have on their self-image and identity development, values, communication norms, and coping skills? and 2) What are students’ perceptions about the potential influences that faith, hope, love, and optimism may have in facilitating self-awareness, personal responsibility, social awareness, and social responsibility? Method: Students completed an onsite post-intervention survey that consisted of thirteen questions graded on a nominal scale (i.e., yes/no) indicating the degree of agreement with the statements. Results: Findings suggest black youth in Baltimore are aware of the potential influences that PYMM has on their attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors and welcome the opportunity to have critical discussions about the role of PYMM in their lives. Discussion: This study and its results offer additional evidence supporting use of PYMM for culturally-relevant and culturally-responsive teaching and learning to promote health, and specifically address the psychosocial wellbeing for urban youth.