Objective:To increase our understanding about food insecurity among urban adolescents, we conducted a qualitative study in Baltimore City with adolescents to: (i) explore how adolescents experience and cope with food insecurity; and (ii) identify community-based approaches or interventions for addressing food insecurity.Design:A total of eight focus groups were conducted across six neighbourhoods. To gather sociodemographic characteristics and personal data on food insecurity, all consented adolescents completed a brief questionnaire.Setting:Six purposively selected neighbourhoods in Baltimore City, USA.Participants:A total of fifty-three adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 years participated in the study.Results:Although half of our sample was classified as food insecure, everyone in the focus groups was aware of adolescents who engaged in risky behaviours to get money for food. Among girls, prostituting was the most commonly mentioned behaviour, whereas for boys, it was selling drugs or stealing to get money for food. Adolescents also described tremendous stigma associated with food insecurity and agreed that food insecurity has to be viewed within a broader set of economic challenges.Conclusions:Addressing food insecurity among adolescents in disadvantaged neighbourhoods should be a high priority for policy makers and practitioners. Current feeding programmes are not addressing the needs of adolescents; as a result, adolescents are at risk for a variety of harmful behaviours and outcomes, with long-term negative health and social consequences.

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There is a need to understand why some strategies work better than others for engaging vulnerable Black adolescents in prevention research, especially those who are affected by parental drug use. The current study sought to fill this gap. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with parents who reported a history of illicit drug use (N = 11), young adults who had a biological parent with a history of illicit drug use (N = 14), and service providers who work with families affected by illicit drug use (N = 5). Nearly all participants were Black and lived or worked in Baltimore, Maryland. Over half of the participants were female (62%). Interviews were recorded and ranged from 30 to 92 minutes in length. Data were analyzed using an inductive, content analysis approach. Four themes emerged (coined STAR): SAFE people and places minimize retraumatization; TEAMING UP with community partners increases acceptability; ADDRESSING a range of needs helps adolescents survive; and RELATABLE facilitators understand and listen to adolescents. Findings build onto and extend previous research that highlights strategies to This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Introduction: Teen pregnancy rates have declined in the United States; however, disparities continue to persist particularly among minority, low-income adolescents. A greater understanding of how pregnancy intentions are conceptualized for adolescents, and the role of the social context may illuminate reasons for disparities. The aim of this study was to expand the lens in which adolescents' perspectives of pregnancy are studied by exploring the contextual factors that frame how pregnancy intentions are developed among urban adolescents. Methods: Thirteen focus groups (N = 46) were conducted with male and female adolescents 15-19 years old in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants were recruited from local high schools, and focus groups were stratiied by sex and age (15-17 and 18-19). A phenomenological approach was applied to analyze the data both deductively and inductively, allowing for themes to emerge and align within an existing conceptual framework. Results: Two themes identiied were stated pregnancy intentions and shared schemas of sex and pregnancy. Participants discussed a range of pregnancy intentions and expressed ive social perspectives which informed those intentions: sex is a gendered responsibility, teen pregnancy is cyclical and common, teen pregnancy is not a completely negative experience, having a child fulills emotional and relational voids, and pregnancy should happen early, just not too early. Conclusion: Pregnancy intentions for adolescents are expansive and driven by complex social perspectives set in their context. More consideration of the context is needed to provide and offer adolescents, particularly those of vulnerable communities, supports that align with their reproductive health needs.