Descriptive Analysis of Individual and Community Factors among African American Youths in Urban Public Housing

Abstract

African American adolescents are disproportionately represented in urban public housing developments. These neighborhoods are generally characterized by high rates of poverty, crime, violence, and disorganization. Although evidence is emerging on youths in these communities, little is known about their depressive symptoms, perceived efficacy, or frequency of substance use and sex-risk behavior. Further, even less is known about their exposure to community and household violence, their parents' behavior, or their sense of connection to their communities. Using a sample of 782 African American adolescents living in public housing neighborhoods located in four large U.S. cities, this article attempts to rectify the observed gap in knowledge by presenting a descriptive overview of their self-reported depressive symptoms; self-efficacy; frequencies of delinquent and sexual-risk behavior; and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. The self-reported ratings of their parents' behavior as well as their exposure to community and household violence are presented. Analytic procedures include descriptive statistics and mean comparisons between genders and across research cities. Results suggest several differences between genders and across research sites. However, results are not very different from national data. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

The Effect of Family Cohesion and Life Satisfaction During Adolescence on Later Adolescent Outcomes

“…Other important factors are not in the model, such as neighborhood. Previous studies have shown that neighborhood has significant effects on adolescent development (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Nebbitt, Lombe, Yu, Vaughn, & Stokes, 2012; Nebbitt et al, 2014; Sampson, 2006).…”

“…Although previous studies have demonstrated that youths who reside in a more organized neighborhood are less likely to commit delinquent acts (Sampson, 2006) and feel safer about the community (Nebbitt, Williams, Lombe, McCoy, & Stephens, 2014), contextual factors that are more proximal to the individual often exert greater effects on adolescent development than factors at a distance. Consequently, two relatively important factors are relevant: family and individual perception.…”

Measuring Adolescent Social and Academic Self-Efficacy

“…Others develop their own instruments for specific research contexts or to assess efficacy within specific subpopulations (Gibbons & Borders, 2010). Still others utilize established instruments designed to assess self-efficacy beliefs, either generally or within specific domains (Nebbitt, Williams, Lombe, McCoy, & Stephens, 2014).…”

Exploring coping among urban youth through photovoice

“…US teens in low-income urban areas have been the focus of research due to experiencing high rates of poverty and violence (Nebbitt et al., 2014). Despite nationwide decrease, crime in Baltimore (the country’s second deadliest city) has increased at alarming rates.…”