Opara Ijeoma, R Leonard Noelle, Thorpe Daneele, Kershaw Trace
School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.
Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, United States.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 May 28;10(5):e29427. doi: 10.2196/29427.
Substance use among youth is a major public health concern. Of note, substance use among youth is increasing in prevalence, and the incidence of substance use at earlier ages is rising. 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.
This study aims to use innovative methods, such as venue-based sampling, to recruit youth who are disconnected from school and use community-based participatory research to gain a better understanding of the prevalence of substance use and important correlates among youth aged between 13 and 21 years in Paterson, New Jersey, a low-income, urban community. The study will use a convergent, mixed methods design involving multiple data collection components and the analysis of a ministrative data source, designed with the strengths of complex intervention frameworks in mind. The overall aims of the study are to identify the prevalence of substance use among youth who are engaged in school and not engaged in school; to understand important antecedents and correlates of substance use; and to 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.
This study will use both qualitative and quantitative methods to address important questions. Specifically, semistructured interviews using focus group and interview methodologies will be used to assess youths' lived experiences and will account for specific details that quantitative methods may not be able to attain. In addition, quantitative methods will be used to examine direct and multilevel associations between neighborhood factors and youth substance use and mental health outcomes.
A previous analysis from a substance use initiative in Paterson, New Jersey found that youth who use substances such as marijuana and alcohol are more likely to have higher rates of depression and anxiety. On the basis of the research questions, this study will examine the association between neighborhood characteristics, substance use, and mental health symptoms among youth in Paterson by using quantitative and qualitative methods and will use these findings to inform the adaptation of a community- and evidence-based substance use prevention intervention for these youths.
The findings of this study will provide an important contribution to understanding the role of socioecological factors in predicting substance use and mental health outcomes among youth in a lower-resourced, urban community. Furthermore, 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 who are truant in Paterson, New Jersey.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/29427.
青少年物质使用是一个重大的公共卫生问题。值得注意的是，青少年物质使用的患病率正在上升，且较低年龄阶段物质使用的发生率也在增加。鉴于早期物质使用的长期后果，识别增加青少年药物使用易感性的因素很重要，因为这些因素可能是未来干预的重要目标。
本研究旨在使用创新方法，如基于场所的抽样，招募失学青少年，并采用基于社区的参与性研究，以更好地了解新泽西州帕特森市（一个低收入城市社区）13至21岁青少年的物质使用患病率及其重要相关因素。该研究将采用融合性混合方法设计，并涉及多个数据收集组件以及对行政数据源的分析，设计时考虑到了复杂干预框架的优势。该研究的总体目标是确定在校青少年和失学青少年的物质使用患病率；了解物质使用的重要前因和相关因素；并利用这些信息为社会、环境和文化适宜的干预措施提供依据，以解决资源较少的城市社区青少年中的物质使用及其相关问题。
本研究将使用定性和定量方法来解决重要问题。具体而言，将采用焦点小组和访谈方法进行半结构化访谈，以评估青少年真实的经历，并涵盖定量方法可能无法获取的具体细节。此外，定量方法将用于研究邻里因素与青少年物质使用及心理健康结果之间的直接和多层次关联。
新泽西州帕特森市一项物质使用倡议的先前分析发现，使用大麻和酒精等物质的青少年更有可能有较高的抑郁和焦虑发生率。基于这些研究问题，本研究将通过定量和定性方法研究帕特森市青少年的邻里特征、物质使用和心理健康症状之间的关联，并将利用这些发现为这些青少年调整基于社区和证据的物质使用预防干预措施提供依据。
本研究的结果将为理解社会生态因素在预测资源较少的城市社区青少年物质使用和心理健康结果中的作用做出重要贡献。此外，这些结果将为制定一个考虑文化因素的、基于社区的预防计划提供证据，以解决青少年物质使用差异问题，包括新泽西州帕特森市的逃学青少年。
国际注册报告识别号（IRRID）：PRR1-10.2196/29427
