JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Substance use among youth represents a major public health concern. Of note, substance use among youth is not only increasing in prevalence, but increasingly youths are beginning to experiment with substance at earlier ages. Given the long-term consequences of early substance use, it is important to identify factors that increase youth vulnerability to drug use, as they may be important targets for future interventions.

Objective:

The goal of this study is to employ innovative methods, such as venue-based sampling to recruit youth who are disconnected from school and use community based participatory research (CBPR) to gain a better understanding of the prevalence of substance use and important correlates among youth between the ages of 13-21 years old in Paterson, New Jersey, a low-income, urban community. The study will employ a convergent, mixed-methods design involving multiple data collection components and analysis of a ministrative data sources, designed with the strengths of complex interventions framework in mind. The overall goals of the study are to: 1) identify the prevalence of substance use among youth who are engaged in school and not engaged in school 2) understand important antecedents and correlates of substance use, and 3) use this information to inform social, environmental, and culturally appropriate interventions to address substance use and its correlates among youths in a lower resourced urban community.

Methods:

This study will employ both qualitative and quantitative methods to address these important questions. Specifically, semi-structured interviews using focus group and interview methodology will be used to assess youth’s lived experiences and can account for specific details that quantitative methods may not be able to attain. Additionally, quantitative methods will be used to examine direct and multilevel associations between neighborhood factors and youth substance use and mental health outcomes.

Results:

The project is currently in the first phase of planning and recruitment for both the quantitative and qualitative study has not begun. Pending IRB approval at the home institution of the PI.

Conclusions:

Findings from this study provide an important contribution to understanding the role of social ecological factors in predicting substance use and mental health outcomes among youth in a lower resourced, urban community. Further, these findings will serve as evidence for the development of a culturally – informed, community-based prevention program to address substance use disparities for youth including those that are truant in Paterson, NJ. Clinical Trial: N/A