Understanding the Role of Neighborhoods on Urban Youth's Substance Use and Mental Health: A Community-Based Substance Abuse Prevention Project

项目总结 美国城市青年更有可能接触到合法和非法物质，经历更高水平的 焦虑和抑郁症状，并生活在资源不足的地区。这样的差距使城市青年面临更贫穷的风险 他们的健康结果比他们的同行更好。由于青少年药物使用呈上升趋势，创新方法势在必行。 以解决这一复杂问题。物质使用，邻里特征， 青年的心理健康结果正在文献中出现，但不平等继续影响着城市的青年 社区。新泽西州的帕特森是一个东北部的城市社区，是物质含量最高的社区之一 全国范围内的虐待行为。居住在帕特森的年轻人在他们的社区过度接触毒品，并有极端的 接触物质，使他们在更早的年龄开始使用的风险更大，更有可能成为 成人期。我在这个社区的研究表明，社区和社区层面的特点，此外 对于青少年中的抑郁和焦虑症状，可能是早期使用药物的关键促进剂。之前的研究已经 压倒性地将责任归咎于个人，特别是年轻人，而不是承认系统结构 以及青年所处的环境背景。尽管存在预防药物使用的干预措施，但青年 谁是最脆弱的，往往是最难接触到的，没有参与预防干预或与之有联系 资源。为了接触到这些高危人群，我建议使用一种创新的方法，基于地点的抽样，以 招募高危青年。这项研究针对的是以下具体目标： 目的1：研究社区特征、药物使用和心理健康之间的关系 采用定量和定性相结合的方法对帕特森青年的症状进行调查。 目标2：使用目标1的调查结果，为社区和循证物质的适应提供信息 对帕特森青少年进行预防干预。 目标3：对帕特森青少年样本进行干预试点。 我假设，不同种族、性别、年龄和年龄的人在风险和保护因素上会有显著差异。 帕特森青年的社会经济地位。该项目将使用多种数据来源来为调查结果提供信息并使用 准备在帕特森和其他城市实施更强大的R01临床试验应用的初步数据 这些城市将解释城市青年的独特差异。

PROJECT SUMMARY Urban youth in the United States are more likely to be exposed to licit and illicit substances, experience higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and live in under-resourced areas. Such a disparity leaves urban youth at risk of poorer health outcomes than their counterparts. Since youth substance use is on the rise, it is imperative for innovative methods to be utilized in order to tackle this complex issue. The association between substance use, neighborhood characteristics, and mental health outcomes in youth is emerging in the literature yet disparities continue to impact youth in urban communities. Paterson, New Jersey is a northeastern, urban community which has one the highest rates of substance abuse in the nation. Youth living in Paterson are overly exposed to drug use in their neighborhoods and have extreme access to substances, leaving them more at risk to initiate use at earlier ages and more likely to become dependent into adulthood. My research in this community has shown that neighborhood and community level characteristics, in addition to depressive and anxiety symptoms among youth, can be key facilitators to early substance use. Previous research has overwhelmingly placed the blame on individuals, particularly youth, as opposed to acknowledging the systemic structures and the environmental context in which youth are nested. Although substance use prevention interventions exist, youth who are the most vulnerable and often the hardest to reach, are not engaged in prevention interventions or connected to resources. In order to reach this at-risk population, I propose to use an innovative method, venue-based sampling, to recruit at-risk youth. The research addresses these specific aims: Aim 1: To examine the association between neighborhood characteristics, substance use, and mental health symptoms among Paterson youth using quantitative and qualitative methods. Aim 2: Use findings from Aim 1 to inform the adaptation of a community-based and evidence-based substance use prevention intervention for Paterson youth. Aim 3: Pilot the intervention on a sample of Paterson youth. I hypothesize that there will be significant differences in risk and protective factors by race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status among Paterson youth. This project will use multiple sources of data to inform findings and use preliminary data to prepare a more robust R01 clinical trial application to be implemented in Paterson and other urban cities that will account for unique differences in urban youth.