MedPath

Evaluation of Violence Prevention Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Community Levels of Youth Violence

Not Applicable
Conditions
Exposure to Violent Event
Violence
Adolescent Behavior
Interventions
Behavioral: PAR - the SEED Method
Behavioral: PAR-Youth Voices
Behavioral: Emerging Leaders hospital-based intervention
Registration Number
NCT06176300
Lead Sponsor
Virginia Commonwealth University
Brief Summary

The goal of this research study is to implement and evaluate a comprehensive community-level approach, Healthy Communities for Youth, that includes both a selective hospital-based prevention strategy, Emerging Leaders, and universal prevention strategies that increase Positive Youth Development opportunities through participatory action research, stakeholder education, community mobilization, and an overall focus on increasing community capacity for prevention. Key project aims are to evaluate the impact of Healthy Communities for Youth on community rates of youth violence using surveillance data and evaluate the impact of each violence prevention strategy on proximal outcomes including their impact on risk factors and protective processes related to multiple forms of youth violence.

Detailed Description

This project focuses on three communities in Richmond selected based on US Census Bureau block groups and their high rates of youth violence and concentrated poverty. The community-level effects of implementing the comprehensive community-level approach will be evaluated using a multiple baseline design. The three communities were randomly assigned such that the intervention would begin in one community starting in the fourth quarter of Year 1, a second community in the fourth quarter of Year 2, and the third community will represent a no-intervention control community receiving training and technical assistance at the end of the project. Analyses will be conducted on community-level surveillance data on violence-related variables to determine if the introduction of the community-level intervention within each community is associated with subsequent changes in outcome measures.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
3390
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SEQUENTIAL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Community BPAR-Youth Voices-
Community BPAR - the SEED Method-
Community BEmerging Leaders hospital-based intervention-
Community APAR - the SEED Method-
Community APAR-Youth Voices-
Community AEmerging Leaders hospital-based intervention-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Firearm Aggression Questionnaire (FAQ)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

Self-report assessments of violence involving firearms

Critical ConsciousnessBaseline and 17 weeks later

Youth report on how much they agree with statements that reflect the awareness, perception, and reflection on societal experiences of inequality.

Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

23 item measures of aggression and antisocial behavior

Beliefs About Aggression and Alternatives (BAA)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

12 item measures that uses a 4-point Likert scale to assess agreement and disagreement on items involving the use of aggression

Gun Violence Questionnaire (GVQ)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

Self-report assessments of violence involving firearms

Peer Pressure for Fighting (PPF)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

A questionnaire about peer pressure for fighting is a subscale derived from the Problem Behavior Frequency Scales-Adolescent Report

Youth Dating Violence Questionnaire (YDVQ)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

21 item measure that assesses youth dating violence perpetration

Engagement in Community AdvocacyBaseline and 17 weeks later

Youth report on the frequency with which they have engaged in these specified community advocacy activities.

Orientation to Community AdvocacyBaseline and 17 weeks later

Youth report on how much they agree with statements that indicate and orientation of working cooperatively with others for community advocacy and change.

Emotional Motivation to Engage in Community AdvocacyBaseline and 17 weeks later

Youth report on how much they agree with statements about feeling anger in the face of thinking about and learning about social injustice and the extent to which they engage in specific emotion regulation strategies when feeling this anger.

Civic EngagementBaseline and 17 weeks later

Youth report on how important it is to have certain social responsibility and political beliefs, the frequency with which they volunteer, their voting intentions in the future, and their news consumption.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Orientation Toward LeadershipBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report on how much they agree that they have the capacity and responsibility to engage in leadership behaviors.

Social and Emotional SkillsBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report on how easy or difficult it is for them to engage in certain positive social and emotional behaviors.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

It is a 10-item measure intended to assess 10 types of childhood adversity in three different areas of abuse, including emotional and physical abuse, physical neglect, and abuse associated with living in a dysfunctional household. An ACE Score of 0 suggest that the person reported no exposure to childhood trauma. An ACE Score of 10 suggests that the person reported exposure to childhood trauma. The higher the ACE Score, the greater the likelihood that a person will develop one or more of the following health problems: ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic bronchitis or emphysema, hepatitis or jaundice skeletal fractures, diabetes, smoking, sexually transmitted diseases , depression, etc.Measure administered to determine emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; emotional and physical neglect; and growing up with domestic violence, parental marital discord, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration of a household member experienced during the first 18 years of life

Ethnic-Racial IdentityBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report on their own views about being a member of their ethnic-racial group, how central their ethnic-racial group membership is to their identity, and how they think others view people of their ethnic-racial group.

Developmental Assets Profile (DAP)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

58 item measure that was developed for youth aged 11-18 to assess the strengths and qualities that are believed to promote resilience and positive development.

Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)Baseline and 6 months after baseline

189 item survey that assesses hyperactivity, aggression, conduct problems, and executive function in youth. It also assesses anxiety, depression, attention and learning problems, as well as the lack of certain essential skills

Research skills & Orientation Toward ResearchBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report on the extent to which they know how to use certain research skills and whether they believe that research skills can be useful for community change.

Leadership SkillsBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report on the extent to which they believe they possess certain leadership skills.

Involvement in Youth Oriented ActivitiesBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report their participation and frequency of participation in 25 types of youth-oriented activities at school or in the community.

Satisfaction & Experiences in the Youth Voices ProgramBaseline and 17 weeks after baseline

Youth report their overall satisfaction, perception, and important experiences from participating in the Youth Voices program and working together in a group.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Virginia Commonwealth University

🇺🇸

Richmond, Virginia, United States

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