Clinical trial NCT06176300: Evaluation of Violence Prevention Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Community Levels of Youth Violence
Official title: VCU Healthy Communities for Youth: Evaluation of Violence Prevention Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Community Levels of Youth Violence
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
Phase: NA
Conditions: Violence
Exposure to Violent Event
Adolescent Behavior
Lead sponsor: Virginia Commonwealth University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
First posted: 2023-12-19
Enrollment: 3390
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SEQUENTIAL
Intervention model description: Three intervention strategies (i.e., PAR - the SEED Method and Youth Voices, Emerging Leaders hospital-based intervention, and Stakeholder Education) form the community-level approach to prevent youth violence. The interventions will be implemented in communities in randomized order to evaluate their combined influence.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The goal of this research study is to implement and evaluate a comprehensive community-level approach, Healthy Communities for Youth, that includes both a selective hospital-based prevention strategy, Emerging Leaders, and universal prevention strategies that increase Positive Youth Development opportunities through participatory action research, stakeholder education, community mobilization, and an overall focus on increasing community capacity for prevention. Key project aims are to evaluate the impact of Healthy Communities for Youth on community rates of youth violence using surveillance data and evaluate the impact of each violence prevention strategy on proximal outcomes including their impact on risk factors and protective processes related to multiple forms of youth violence.

Detailed description: This project focuses on three communities in Richmond selected based on US Census Bureau block groups and their high rates of youth violence and concentrated poverty. The community-level effects of implementing the comprehensive community-level approach will be evaluated using a multiple baseline design. The three communities were randomly assigned such that the intervention would begin in one community starting in the fourth quarter of Year 1, a second community in the fourth quarter of Year 2, and the third community will represent a no-intervention control community receiving training and technical assistance at the end of the project. Analyses will be conducted on community-level surveillance data on violence-related variables to determine if the introduction of the community-level intervention within each community is associated with subsequent changes in outcome measures.

Eligibility criteria: PAR-SEED Method:

Inclusion criteria:

* Community residents, youth aged 12-17 and parents, living in one of the intervention communities (Community A and Community B)
* Stakeholders who reside or work in one of the intervention communities (Community A and Community B) or who contribute other expertise
* Be able to consent/assent

Exlcusion criteria:

* Those who do not meet the inclusion criteria
* Those with limited English proficiency

Emerging Leaders:

Inclusion criteria:

* Violently injured or high-risk youth that have either received or are receiving treatment or had a family member or relative receive treatment at VCU Health, or who live in one of the intervention communities, or have been referred by a community partner.
* Aged 14 through 24
* Reside in one of the two intervention communities (Community A and Community B) or in the control community (Community C)
* Be able to consent/assent

Exclusion criteria:

* Youth younger than 14 and older than 24 will be excluded.
* Prisoners will be excluded.
* Those living outside our community boundaries will be excluded.

PAR/Youth Voices:

Inclusion criteria:

* Youth in grades 9 through 12
* Reside in one of the intervention communities (Community A and Community B) and attend the designated high school(s) serving that community (Community A or Community B)
* Be able to consent/assent

Exclusion criteria:

* Youth in grades below 9th
* Youth who have graduated from high school
* Youth recruited for School A, cannot reside in the catchment areas for Communities B or C. Youth recruited for School B, cannot reside in the catchment areas for Communities A or C. Youth recruited for School C, cannot reside in the catchment areas for Communities A or B.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Beliefs About Aggression and Alternatives (BAA)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Firearm Aggression Questionnaire (FAQ)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Gun Violence Questionnaire (GVQ)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Peer Pressure for Fighting (PPF)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Youth Dating Violence Questionnaire (YDVQ)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Engagement in Community Advocacy
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks later
measure: Orientation to Community Advocacy
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks later
measure: Emotional Motivation to Engage in Community Advocacy
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks later
measure: Civic Engagement
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks later
measure: Critical Consciousness
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks later
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Developmental Assets Profile (DAP)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months after baseline
measure: Research skills & Orientation Toward Research
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
measure: Leadership Skills
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
measure: Orientation Toward Leadership
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
measure: Ethnic-Racial Identity
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
measure: Social and Emotional Skills
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
measure: Involvement in Youth Oriented Activities
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
measure: Satisfaction & Experiences in the Youth Voices Program
timeFrame: Baseline and 17 weeks after baseline
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Richmond
country: United States
facility: Virginia Commonwealth University
state: Virginia
Study officials:
affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University
name: Terri Sullivan, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: