Villodas Melissa L, Nebbitt Von E, Lombe Margaret, Yu Mansoo, Foell Andrew, McCoy Henrika, Enelamah Ngozi V
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Washington University in St. Louis.
J Soc Social Work Res. 2023 Summer;14(2):291-312. doi: 10.1086/716084.
African American youth are disproportionately overrepresented in low-resourced segregated urban neighborhoods. Consequently, they experience greater exposure to neighborhood risks and subsequent depressive symptoms. Neighborhood cohesion represents a protective factor for youth in such environments. However, the concept remains underexplored among African American youth. This study examines the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Neighborhood Cohesion Index (NCI) among African American youth living in public housing.
Psychometric properties were assessed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using data from African American youth ( = 235) living in public housing in two large northeastern cities.
The EFA resulted in the use of a single-factor structure with two dropped items and good internal validity. Findings from the CFA indicated that model fit indices were unacceptable for chi-square and RMSEA (χ2 [62; = 235] = 170.19, p < .001); RMSEA = 0.09 [90% CI: 0.071, 0.102]) but were acceptable for SRMR and CFI (SRMR = 0.06; CFI = 0.91) with three error covariances.
The modified NCI is not ideal for assessing neighborhood cohesion among this understudied population. Future research should prioritize psychometric testing alongside cognitive interviewing, to provide a contextualized measure of neighborhood cohesion for this population.
非裔美国青少年在资源匮乏的城市隔离社区中的比例过高。因此，他们更容易受到社区风险的影响，并随后出现抑郁症状。社区凝聚力是这类环境中青少年的一个保护因素。然而，这一概念在非裔美国青少年中仍未得到充分探索。本研究考察了居住在公共住房中的非裔美国青少年中，邻里凝聚力指数（NCI）修订版的心理测量特性。
使用来自东北部两个大城市公共住房中的非裔美国青少年（n = 235）的数据，通过探索性和验证性因素分析来评估心理测量特性。
探索性因素分析结果显示采用单因素结构，剔除了两个项目，内部效度良好。验证性因素分析结果表明，卡方和RMSEA的模型拟合指数不可接受（χ2 [62; n = 235] = 170.19，p < .001；RMSEA = 0.09 [90% CI：0.071，0.102]），但在有三个误差协方差的情况下，SRMR和CFI的模型拟合指数可接受（SRMR = 0.06；CFI = 0.91）。
修订后的NCI并非评估这一研究不足人群邻里凝聚力的理想工具。未来研究应优先进行心理测量测试并结合认知访谈，为该人群提供一个情境化的邻里凝聚力测量方法。
