Promoting healthy trajectories for urban middle school youth through county‐funded, parks‐based after‐school programming

Abstract

Ongoing pressure for public schools to prioritize academics has increased attention on after‐school settings as a critical space for social‐emotional learning (SEL). After‐school programs are uniquely positioned to build protective and promotive factors that contribute to positive future orientation, especially within communities where systemic inequities create barriers to high school graduation, higher education, employment, and earnings. This study examines Fit2Lead Youth Enrichment and Sports (YES), a county‐funded, parks‐based after‐school collaboration for middle schoolers that merges mental health and recreation to promote healthy trajectories. Eight Miami neighborhood parks were selected based on county data indicating high rates of violence. An open trial design (N = 9 parks, 198 youth; ages 9–15; 40.5% female; 66.5% Black/African American, 24.9% Hispanic/Latinx, and 76.3% low‐income) tested hypotheses that participation for adolescents exposed to community violence would disrupt a commonly reported decline in self‐regulation and self‐efficacy, and mitigate risk for anxiety and depression. Youth completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of one school year. Paired t‐tests revealed no changes from pre to post, and no differences by baseline levels of youth and parent mental health. Findings highlight the promise of prevention programs to disrupt downward trajectories for youth during the risky time of early adolescence.

Identifying adolescents’ gaming preferences for a tobacco prevention social game: A qualitative study

“…After-school youth organizations can provide a supportive environment for adolescents' participation in the design process and their engagement in a social game-based program for tobacco prevention. Previous research suggests that well-crafted activities within after-school organizations can promote youth empowerment [28], reduce substance use [29][30][31][32], and improve quality of life [33]. As a result, the design of an intervention that can be implemented within structured youth organizations may be an effective strategy for the prevention of adolescent tobacco use.…”

“…Following the open-ended questions in Phase 1, participants played the game "Cranium" as a group, and then they provided their creative thoughts regarding the activities in the game. We chose "Cranium" because it is a multiplayer cooperative game that includes a variety of cognitive and creative social game-based activities across different domains [33][34][35]. Players work in teams in this game to complete activities, including charades, drawing games, sculpting with molding clay, and answering trivia questions (Table 1).…”

Developing a text-message library for tobacco prevention among adolescents: A qualitative study

“…Developing text messages in partnership with adolescents from after-school organizations can be particularly beneficial. Previous research suggests that after-school organizations work to promote youth empowerment [ 17 ], reduce substance use [ 18 – 21 ], and improve the general quality of life [ 22 ]. As a result, working closely with after-school organizations can allow the involvement of highly motivated and proactive adolescents during the design of messages for tobacco prevention.…”