Youth Participatory Action Research to Prevent Community Violence Among Black Youth

NCT06886204 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: STUDY00006694R01CE003580
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 360
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This behavioral intervention study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH) on youth prosocial behavior and aggressive behavior and assess racial identity and future orientation as mediators of prevention effects.

Conditions

Community Violence

Keywords

Youth Participatory Action Research; Youth Empowered Advocating for Health; Community violence

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in prosocial behavior: Multidimensional Well-being Assessment Scale

  Youth prosocial behavior will be measured using a scale developed by Grills et al. (2016) which assesses youth endorsement of behaviors that build connections with others in the past 2 weeks (α=.92). This 12-item scale was developed from items from the Multidimensional Well-being Assessment Scale, and uses a Likert-type scale (1=never; 5=always), with higher mean scores indicating greater likelihood of engaging in behaviors that reflect care and concern for others

  Baseline, Week 8, Month 3

• Change in aggressive behavior: California Healthy Kids Survey adaptation

  Youth aggressive behavior will be measured using 10 items adapted from the California Healthy Kids Survey. This measure asks participants how often they engaged in behaviors such as yelling at teachers, hitting or punching someone, or teasing another student in the past month (α=.88). These items assess the frequency of behaviors with 5 response categories (0,1,2,3,4+).

  Baseline, Week 8, Month 3

• Change in community violence exposure: Community Experiences Questionnaire

  This will be measured with 14 items (items 12-25) from the Community Experiences Questionnaire assessing exposure to violence by witnessing (CEQ-WIT). This scale asks the respondent to rank the frequency with which they have experienced each item on a 4-point rating scale (1=never, 2=once, 3=a few times, 4=lots of times). Scores are calculated by averaging respondents' ratings for the scale

  Baseline, Week 8, Month 3

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Racial identity: multidimensional inventory of Black identity-teen (MIBI-T)score

  Baseline, Week 8, Month 3

• Future orientation: Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness

  Baseline, Month 3

Study Arms (2)

YEAH group: Immediate Intervention

OTHER

YEAH is a YPAR intervention that involves conducting a photovoice project to explore youth perspectives on the structural determinants of community violence and developing a theater performance to share the key themes and action priorities generated from photovoice with youth and adults in their community. The team will conduct individual-level surveys at baseline, 8 weeks, and 3 months to assess individual-level impacts of YEAH on youth participants

Behavioral: YEAH: Youth Empowered Advocating for Health

YEAH group: Delayed

OTHER

Youth who are randomized to waitlist control will be offered the 8-session YEAH intervention after data collection is complete with the YEAH immediate intervention group

Behavioral: YEAH: Youth Empowered Advocating for Health

Interventions

YEAH: Youth Empowered Advocating for Health BEHAVIORAL

The Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH) program is a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) intervention aimed at addressing community violence by fostering youth and community healing. It combines photovoice and theater arts performances. In photovoice sessions, Black youth explore structural determinants of community violence through a participatory research process. Guided by trained facilitators, youth learn the method after obtaining parental consent and youth assent. Using the structured SHOWED framework, they analyze and discuss images, generating ideas for social action. During the photovoice sessions, photo assignments will be completed, with discussions recorded, analyzed for themes, and shared for validation. The final four sessions will integrate these themes into theater arts performances, allowing youth to creatively express insights and experiences, fostering empowerment and social change.

Also known as: YEAH

YEAH group: Delayed; YEAH group: Immediate Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 12 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Identify their race or ethnicity as Black or African American
• Speak English
• Able to understand the project and give full consent to participate if eligible
• Have a parent or guardian provide consent for them to participate
• Member of Boys and Girls Clubs or other Youth Serving Organization (YEAH immediate intervention and delayed intervention groups)

You may not qualify if:

• Non-English speakers

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Emory University: lead
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, United States

RECRUITING

Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia, 30329, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Health

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Population Characteristics

Study Officials

• Briana Wood-Jaeger, PhD

  Emory University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Briana Woods-Jaeger, PhD

CONTACT

404-727-8295; bwoodsjaeger@emory.edu

Tiffaney Renfro

CONTACT

twilli7@emory.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2025
• First Posted: March 20, 2025
• Study Start: February 27, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Last Updated: August 26, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: May 2028 onwards
• Access Criteria: Emory Dataverse

Locations

US (2)