A Qualitative Exploration of the Built Environment as a Key Mechanism of Safety and Social Cohesion for Youth in High-Violence Communities.

The characteristics of a neighborhood's built environment may influence health-promoting behaviors, interactions between neighbors, and perceptions of safety. Although some research has reported on how youth in high-violence communities navigate danger, less work has investigated how these youth perceive the built environment, their desires for these spaces, and how these desires relate to their conceptions of safety and perceptions of other residents. To fill this gap, this study used focus group data from 51 youth ages 13-24 living in New Orleans, Louisiana. Four themes were developed using reflexive thematic analysis: community violence is distressing and disruptive, youth use and want to enjoy their neighborhood, systemic failure contributes to negative outcomes, and resources and cooperation create safety. This analysis indicates that young people desire to interact with the built environment despite the threat of community violence. They further identified built environment assets that facilitate socialization and recreation, such as local parks, and social assets in the form of cooperation and neighbor-led civic engagement initiatives. In addition, the youth participants demonstrated awareness of structural inequities that influence neighborhood health and violence-related outcomes. This study contributes to efforts to understand how youth with high levels of community violence exposure understand and interact with the built and social environments.

Social capital and changes of psychologic distress during early stage of COVID-19 in New orleans.

Here we report on the relationship between measures of social capital, and their association with changes in self-reported measures of psychological distress during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze data from an existing cluster randomized control trial (the Healthy Neighborhoods Project) with 244 participants from New Orleans, Louisiana. Changes in self-reported scores between baseline (January 2019-March 2020) and participant's second survey (March 20, 2020, and onwards) are calculated. Logistic regression is employed to examine the association between social capital indicators and measures of psychological distress adjusting for key covariates and controlling for residential clustering effects. Participants reporting higher than average scores for social capital indicators are significantly less likely to report increases in psychosocial distress between pre and during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who report higher than average sense of community were approximately 1.2 times less likely than those who report lower than average sense of community scores to experience increases in psychological distress before and during the global pandemic (OR 0.79; 95% CI 0.70,0.88, p ≤ 0.001), even after controlling for key covariates. Findings highlight the potentially important role that community social capital and related factors may play in the health of underrepresented populations during times of major stress. Specifically, the results suggest an important role of cognitive social capital and perceptions of community membership, belonging, and influence in buffering changes of mental health distress experienced during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of residents.

Navigating COVID-19 and racial trauma as a Black student at predominantly White institutions.

Black students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) contend with racial microaggressions that can lead to negative mental health and academic outcomes. The physical and mental health consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic are well-known. What remains unknown is how targeted racial hate during a pandemic might have a compounded effect on Black essential workers. The current study examines how future essential workers in helping professions cope with dual crises as they navigate mostly White universities. Study participants were Black university students attending PWIs in the United States enrolled in social work, public health, or psychology programs during the 2020-2021 academic year. Participants completed an online survey that measured racial microaggressions, COVID distress, sense of belonging, engagement in activism, and well-being. Hierarchical regression models revealed COVID distress predicted poorer well-being. Also, COVID distress interacted with racial microaggressions to predict well-being. Findings have implications for developing decolonized learning communities with a liberation pedagogy in community psychology and other helping professions.

The influence of racial violence in neighborhoods and schools on the psycho-behavioral outcomes in adolescence.

Racism in all its manifestations is violence. This study examines the effect of discrimination-based racial violence in neighborhoods and schools on adolescent psychological and behavioral outcomes, while also testing the moderating influence of civic engagement. Researchers used a cross-sectional survey design to measure neighborhood and school-based racial discrimination, civic engagement, racial identity development, racism-based stress, and aggressive behaviors in a sample of 167, 13 to 23 year old adolescents and emerging adults. Participants were recruited through a cluster randomized trial to test the impact of blight remediation in preventing youth violence. Study researchers hypothesized a direct effect of racial discrimination on adolescents' racism-based stress and aggressive behaviors and a buffering effect of civic engagement on these relationships. Researchers also examined these relationships in participants with higher-than-average racial identity development scores. Multivariate regression models revealed a significant direct effect of both neighborhood and school discrimination on adolescents' aggressive behaviors. Civic engagement had a positive buffering effect in the relationship between neighborhood discrimination and aggressive behaviors. Similar relationships were observed among adolescents with a high racial identity with stronger effect. Study findings have implications for understanding the behavioral impact of racial violence and investing in civic engagement to mitigate its impact in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Spencer's phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST): Charting its origin and impact.

This article examines the origin and scholarly impact of Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer's phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST). We expound on her early foundational work replicating the Clark and Clark (1950) doll study and research during the period of "Atlanta's missing and murdered children." As a conceptual template, we anchor the theoretical contribution as introducing phenomenology and "net vulnerability" as factors that inform "emerging identities." Highlighted research focuses on synergistic themes associated with identity intersectionality, pubertal development, and education as a context for net vulnerability. We end with suggestions for future directions for PVEST. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

In it Together: Sense of Community and Psychologic Distress During COVID-19.

We assessed the relationship between differences in indicators of social capital before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their association with self-reported measures of psychological distress. The data was analyzed from an existing cluster randomized control trial (the Healthy Neighborhoods Project ) with 244 participants from New Orleans, Louisiana. Differences in self-reported scores between baseline (January 2019-March 2020) and participant's second survey (March 20, 2020, and onwards) were calculated. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association between social capital indicators and measures of psychological distress adjusting for key covariates and controlling for residential clustering effects. Participants who reported higher than average scores for social capital indicators were significantly less likely to report increases in psychosocial distress between pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who reported higher-than-average sense of community were approximately 1.2 times less likely than those who reported lower than average sense of community scores to experience increases in psychological distress before and during the global pandemic (OR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.70,0.88, p ≤ 0.001), even after controlling for key covariates. Findings highlight the potentially important role that community social capital and related factors may play in the health of underrepresented populations during times of major stress. Specifically, the results suggest an important role of cognitive social capital and perceptions of community membership, belonging, and influence in buffering changes of mental health distress experienced during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic among a population that is majority Black and female.

Perceived parenting practices associated with African American adolescents' future expectations.

The current chapter investigated perceived parenting practices associated with future expectations in a sample of African American adolescents and how these relations varied across self-processes (i.e., hope, self-esteem, racial identity). Specifically, 358 low-income, African American high school students were surveyed to examine the role of perceived parenting practices in youth's aspirations and expectations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that general parenting practices (i.e., support, monitoring, and consistent discipline) and racial socialization (i.e., preparation for bias, cultural socialization) significantly predicted positive future expectations, particularly for adolescents with low self-esteem. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. Importantly, the results contribute to understanding of the developmental cascades of parenting practices and racial socialization in the everyday experiences of African American populations.

Neighborhood Police Encounters, Health, And Violence In A Southern City.

The disproportionate rates of police surveillance and encounters in many communities in the US may be contributing to inequities in health and violence. Frequent policing in communities, which may often also be aggressive policing, has been associated with diminished health and well-being. This study adds to the growing body of research on this issue by examining the relationships between neighborhood police stop-and-frisk encounters and both health outcomes and violence rates in New Orleans, Louisiana, in an ecological, cross-sectional study using local police report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and census data. The average rate of police stop-and-frisk encounters was more than three times higher for Black adults compared with their White counterparts. Even after we accounted for concentrated disadvantage (a high percentage of residents of lower socioeconomic status) and residential racial and income segregation, neighborhoods with higher rates of encounters had significantly higher prevalence rates of smoking, physical inactivity, and poor physical health, and they experienced significantly more violent crime (18.35 more per 1,000) and domestic violence (49.91 more per 1,000) events than neighborhoods with lower levels of police encounters. There is a need for strengthened policy focused on the relationship between frequent policing and health and violence outcomes.

School Lunch Consumption Among 3 Food Service Providers in New Orleans.

BACKGROUND: Louisiana has one of the highest rates of overweight and obese children in the United States. The Healthy School Food Collaborative (HSFC) was created to allow New Orleans's schools to select their own healthy school Food Service Provider (FSP) with requirements for higher nutritional standards than traditional options. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to examine whether HSFC membership was associated with lunch consumption rates in elementary school children. METHODS: An 8-week plate waste study examining 18,070 trays of food among fourth and fifth graders was conducted. Participants included 7 schools and the 3 FSPs (2 HSFC and 1 non-HSFC member) that serviced them. Mixed models analysis examined whether consumption rates of food items differed among FSPs. RESULTS: On average, students consumed 307 cal during lunch. Analyses showed significant differences in consumption rates of entrée, vegetables, fruit, and milk between the 3 FSPs (p < .01). The highest consumption rate was among entrées at 65%. One HSFC provider had consumption levels consistent with the non-HSFC FSP. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, students consumed less than 60% of the US Department of Agriculture recommended calories for school lunch. While overall caloric consumption was higher among the non-HSFC schools, interventions to increase lunch consumption across all schools are needed.