Strengthening Adolescent-Adult Networks to Reduce Youth Violence
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
This pilot community-partnered cluster-randomized trial will examine the feasibility and acceptability of a social network-based youth violence prevention program called Strengthening Connections for Change for youth ages 13-17 and their key adult supports.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
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N/A |
Detailed Description
This pilot community-partnered cluster-randomized trial will examine the feasibility and acceptability of a social network-based youth violence prevention program called Strengthening Connections for Change for youth ages 13-17 and their key adult supports. Set in four lower resource Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania neighborhoods, this study brings together youth ages 13-17 and their self-identified key adult supports to focus on leadership, strengthening intergenerational networks, community engagement, and violence prevention.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Strengthening Connections for Change Strengthening Connections for Change uses a group discussion format with activities that explore identity, adolescent-adult relationships, social networks, and community engagement. Youth invite their self-identified key adult supports to jointly participate in programming and curriculum includes youth-focused, adult-focused and jointly focused activities designed to build leadership skills, enhance intergenerational networks, challenge attitudes towards violence and retaliation, and reduce violence involvement. Through 12 sessions (2 hours/session) delivered weekly, Strengthening Connections offers leadership development coupled with strengths-based youth violence prevention programming. |
Behavioral: Strengthening Connections for Change
Strengthening Connections for Change is a 12-session curriculum designed to strengthen adolescent-adult support networks, build leadership skills, foster community engagement, and challenge attitudes and behaviors that foster violence involvement. During the program, youth ages 13-17 years invite their self-identified key adult supports to jointly participate in programming including youth-focused, adult-focused and jointly focused activities. Towards the end of programming participants design and carry out a community project to strengthen intergenerational connections and promote community engagement.
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| Active Comparator: Job Readiness Training Job Readiness Training uses a group discussion format to learn specific skills to prepare for employment including developing goals, seeking jobs, preparing for interviews, and so forth. Participants receive a 12 session job readiness training with linkages to businesses and employment opportunities. Discussions include a wide range of topics related to career exploration and job readiness. |
Behavioral: Job Readiness Training
Job Readiness Training uses a group discussion format to learn specific skills to prepare for employment including developing goals, seeking jobs, preparing for interviews, and so forth.
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Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Participant Attendance [through intervention completion, 12 weeks]
Attendance recorded at beginning and end of each session. Calculated as a proportion of total number of sessions attended (possible session attended #: 0-12 for youth participants and 0-9 for adult participants; possible proportion attended range: 0-1).
- Participant Overall Satisfaction with Curriculum Content and Format assessed by researcher-generated Likert-scale items [end of program (12 weeks)]
At the end of the program, participants will be asked about how satisfied they were overall with the topics discussed and format of the program using 5-point Likert scale items. Means score will be calculated across the items (possible range: 1-5; higher score means higher satisfaction).
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Participant Satisfaction With Weekly Session Content assessed by researcher-generated Likert-scale items [weekly for 12 weeks]
At the end of each weekly session, participants will be asked about how satisfied they were with the topics discussed for that session using 5-point Likert scale items. Means score will be calculated (possible range: 1-5; higher score means higher satisfaction).
Other Outcome Measures
- Change in social network composition [Baseline, end of program (12 weeks)]
Participants will complete an abbreviated social network survey that asks them to identify key sources of emotional and instrumental support, and to characterize the nature of these relationships (network size, network density, mean link strength).
- Change in violence perpetration [Baseline, end of program (12 weeks)]
Summary score of past 30-day youth violence perpetration adapted from the Aggressive Behavior--SAGE Baseline survey (9 items, each measured on a 5-point frequency scale from 0 times to 7 or more times). Violence perpetration items will be added to create a summary violence perpetration score with 1 point for each response of at least 1 time (possible range: 0-9; lower score indicates better outcome).
- Change in violence victimization [Baseline, end of program (12 weeks)]
Summary score of past 30-day youth violence victimization adapted from the Victimization--Problem Behavior Frequency Scale (9 items, each measured on a 5-point frequency scale from 0 times to 7 or more times). Violence victimization items will be added to create a summary violence victimization score with 1 point for each response of at least 1 time (possible range: 0-9; lower score indicates better outcome).
- Change in attitudes towards violence [Baseline, end of program (12 weeks)]
Modified from the Children's Perception of Environmental Violence Scale, 6 items assessed on 5-point Likert scale, calculated as a mean score (possible range 1-5; lower score indicates better outcome).
- Change in coping [Baseline, end of program (12 weeks)]
Modified from the Healthy Pathways Child-Report Scales: Active Coping Scale, 7 items assessed on 5-point Likert scale, calculated as a mean score (possible range 1-5; higher score indicates better outcome).
- Change in future orientation [Baseline, end of program (12 weeks)]
Modified from the California Healthy Kids Survey, 7 items assessed on 5-point Likert scale, calculated as a mean score (possible range 1-5; higher score indicates better outcome).
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Youth:
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Participants must be ages 13-17 (inclusive)
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Participants must speak English
Adults
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Participants must be ages 18 or older
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Participants must speak English
Exclusion Criteria:
Youth:
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Not ages 13-17 (inclusive)
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Do not speak English
Adults
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Less than 18 years of age
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Do not speak English
Contacts and Locations
Locations
| Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | United States | 15213 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- University of Pittsburgh
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Alison Culyba, MD PhD MPH, University of Pittsburgh
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- STUDY21030140
- 1K23HD098277-01