The variety of experiences of African American adolescents is still misunderstood and neglected. Empirical and lay reports consistently report that drug use is rampant within African American communities despite the fact that national statistics show that African Americans engage in substance use less than their White counterparts. Thus, the…

Objective: This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Urban Hassles Index (UHI). Method: Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were conducted via principal axis factoring extraction method. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate the fit of the EFA-derived model using the weighted least squares…

Although some evidence indicates that religiosity may be protective against substance use in the urban youth population, limited research has investigated the effects of multiple dimensions of religiosity on substance use in this population. In this study, a sample of 301 urban adolescents was used (a) to test the effects of three dimensions of…

Several studies have investigated factors associated with physical aggression during adolescence. Yet, little is known about the longitudinal relationship between drug use, particularly alcohol use, and physical aggression among minority youth. The present study examined the effects of alcohol and substance use at age 11 on trajectories of…

Sociopolitical control (SPC) is generally considered to be a vital element of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment, despite contradictory findings concerning the dimensionality of the construct when applied to a youth population. This study tested the Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth (SPCS-Y), which was designed to…

Given prevalence rates and negative consequences that adolescents' perpetration of dating violence may have on an individual's well-being and future relationships, it is imperative to explore factors that may increase or reduce its occurrence. Thus, we aimed to identify how multiple contextual risk factors (individual, family, schools, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the topics covered by coaches assisting teachers implementing a research-based drug prevention program and explore how coaching affects student outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The All Stars drug prevention curriculum is implemented by 16 urban teachers who received four coaching sessions.…

Research has begun to show associations between adolescents' mealtime practices and their engagement in problem behaviors. Few studies have addressed this longitudinally and/or examined lunchtime practices during the school day. This study tests for associations between urban multiethnic middle school students' (N = 1498) lunchtime practices in…

This study examines patterns of organized activity and their concurrent association with academic achievement, problem behavior, and perceived adult support in a sample of urban, early adolescent, middle school students (mean age = 13.01; N = 2,495). Cluster analyses yielded six activity profiles: an uninvolved group (n = 775, 31.1%), a multiply…

Purpose: Addressing substance abuse in rural America requires extending our understanding beyond urban-rural comparisons to how substance abuse varies across rural communities of different sizes. We address this gap by examining substance abuse prevalence across 4 geographic levels, focusing on youth (age 12-17 years) and young adults (age 18-25…

Youth violence is a significant public health problem. Although the relationship between neighborhood-level factors and urban youth violence is recognized, the specific mechanisms of this relationship are often unclear. Prominent neighborhood individuals were identified within four select low-income urban neighborhoods in Baltimore City. In-depth…

Three social contexts--family, neighborhood youth centers, and peer relationships--were examined in relation to several measures of adjustment among 1,406 mostly minority, inner-city adolescents. Family and center involvement were directly related to 3 of the 4 adjustment measures (i.e., achievement orientation, emotion regulation, attitudes…