Proposed is a Mentored Scientist Career Development Award (K01) that provides me the training and research experience necessary to develop an innovative research program focused on ATOD use and violent/aggressive behavior among youth. My research and professional career have focused on vulnerable populations of young people living in communities characterized by substantial health and social disparities. My primary research interest focuses on resiliency in the prevention of ATOD use and violent behavior among at-risk urban adolescents and young adults. This research interest stems from my experience as a Nurse Practitioner in school-based and community-based clinics with adolescents and young adults. To date, my program of research has focused on the healthy development of adolescents and prevention of risk behaviors, particularly youth violence. My long-term goal is to become an independent investigator in the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violent/aggressive behavior among youth, and the role of primitive factors in the healthy development of youth, specifically primitive factors within the neighborhood context (place). With my long- term goal in mind, my training and research objectives for the five-year award period are: 1) To develop expertise in ATOD use, the relationship between ATOD use and violent behavior, and their concomitant individual and neighborhood risk and primitive factors; 2) To expand my quantitative skills to examine for the effect of place (neighborhood) on adolescent ATOD use and the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violence/aggression overtime; 3) To develop skills in intervention development, evaluation, and design; and 4) To advance my knowledge of the ethical conduct of intervention research with adolescents, including considerations regarding recruitment, data collection, management and security, and intervention. Training will include: graduate coursework in spatial-temporal analysis; short courses in intervention development and design and advanced multilevel modeling; mentored literature reviews on youth ATOD use, ATOD use and violence, and neighborhood effects of substance use among youth; participation in substance use interdisciplinary workgroups and meetings; mentorship in developing school and community partnerships for intervention research and translating research findings into interventions; and three mentored research projects. I will be mentored by experts in adolescent development, adolescent substance use, spatial analysis, and intervention development and implementation. Guided by a developmental-ecological perspective, I have proposed two secondary data analysis projects and one data collection project to address the following overarching research aims: 1) To examine the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violence/aggression among urban youth; 2) To explore how place influences the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violence; 3) To examine the relationship between future orientation, place, and the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violence during adolescence; and 4) To develop an intervention and relevant measures that will be the basis for an R21 and future RCT R01. Using data from the NIDA-funded longitudinal Flint Adolescent Study (n = 850, PI: Zimmerman), the first project will focus on the trajectories of ATOD use and violent behavior over time, and will identify neighborhood characteristics that influence trajectories of ATOD use and violent behavior in a sample of urban youth. I will use dual trajectory growth curve analysis and cross-legged path analyses to explore the relationship between ATOD use and violence from age 14-32. Multilevel modeling analyses will be used to identify neighborhood characteristics that influence the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violence. Using data from a county-wide school based survey (Coordinated Community Student Survey; C2S2); the second research project will focus on the relationship between future orientation, place, and the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violent behavior. I will use multi-group, multilevel SEM (ML-SEM) to examine differences in the relationship between future orientation and ATOD use/violent behavior based on neighborhood factors. The third study involves conducting a survey with a subsample of C2S2 youth (n = 500 6th grade students) for a more in-depth exploration of the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violent behavior, future orientation and its relationship to ATOD and violent behavior, and how place influence future orientation and ATOD use and violent behavior in a sample of urban youth. Measures, study design, and analyses will be determined based on knowledge, skills, and mentoring received as part of the training plan. In research projects 2 and 3, I will use spatial analytic techniques to examine the effects of place-based risk and primitive factors on future orientation, youth ATOD use and violence. In the proposed projects, I seek to identify place-based assets and resources that are associated with preventing the co-occurrence of ATOD use and violence and promote the development of future orientation. In collaboration with school/community partners, I will use these findings to develop an intervention focused on promoting health youth development and reducing ATOD use and violent behavior during year 4, and I will submit an R21 to test this intervention during year 5.
Drug use and violent behavior can place youth at risk for not completing the developmental tasks of adolescence and limits their transition into healthy productive adults. NIDA and others have recognized the importance of primary prevention strategies to prevent adolescent drug use. The proposed research investigates the relationship between neighborhood and individual-level risk and protective factors and the co- occurrence of ATOD use and violent behavior. The research findings will inform the development of an intervention to prevent ATOD use and violent behavior. The research project will be embedded in a comprehensive training program design to help me strength and develop new research skills under the direction of a strong mentorship team.
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