Community Violence, Social Cohesion, Violence, Domestic, Violence in Adolescence, Violence, Non-accidental, Violence, Physical, Violence, Sexual, Violence, Structural
Conditions
Brief summary
This study will evaluate, via a cluster-randomized controlled trial, the effectiveness of a community-centered intervention that promotes thriving and resiliency to reduce community violence.
Detailed description
This study will evaluate, via a cluster-randomized controlled trial, the effectiveness of an innovative community-centered intervention that promotes thriving and resiliency to reduce community violence. In collaboration with community partners, this study will implement a Community Resiliency Collective Efficacy Intervention (CRCEI) to engage community members in dialogue on neighborhood transformation, racial and gender equity, community leadership, and organizing for social change. Facilitating discussion and community organizing within neighborhoods about child and youth thriving is expected to increase individual and neighborhood levels of collective efficacy and reduce community violence. Using a community-partnered participatory approach, this study will use a Community Thriving Matrix tool to engage youth and adult community members in ongoing dialogue on neighborhood transformation, community leadership, and organizing for social change. This focus on envisioning and creating neighborhoods in which children and adolescents can thrive is expected to translate to increased individual and neighborhood levels of collective efficacy as well as violence reduction. Comparison neighborhoods will receive health education sessions as a control intervention. The proposed study involves diverse neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh region and collecting survey data from youth (ages 13-19 years) and adult community participants (both male and female identified). Interviews with a sub-sample of community residents and facilitators and community site leads as well as observations of intervention delivery will provide qualitative information on processes of program implementation. This study will provide the first rigorous evaluation of this community-level prevention approach.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCommunity Resiliency Collective Efficacy Intervention (CRCEI)
The Community Resiliency Collective Efficacy Intervention (CRCEI) will involve community members in dialogue on thriving, community leadership, and organizing for social change. Participants in the intervention condition will be asked to participate in 2 sessions of discussions about community thriving and a 7-week training program on the following topics: Building on the Strengths of Your Community, Collective Efficacy and its Effects on Violence Prevention \& Community Mental Health, Non-threatening Peaceful Intervention Principles and Strategies: Part One, Non-threatening Peaceful Intervention Principles and Strategies: Part Two, Safety and Roles of Police and Community in Intervening, Active/Effective listening and non-violent communication skills, and Community Resources and Indirect Intervention.
BEHAVIORALHealth Education Sessions
Comparison neighborhoods will receive health education sessions across a variety of community-identified health topics as a control intervention. (9 sessions)
Sponsors
University of Pittsburgh
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
This 2-armed cluster-randomized-controlled community-partnered project will examine the effectiveness of a community-centered intervention that promotes thriving and resiliency to reduce community violence, Community Resiliency Collective Efficacy Intervention (CRCEI). The comparison intervention will be health education sessions, which will occur monthly as a 'light touch' intervention in control neighborhoods to recruit a similar number of community members as in the intervention neighborhoods. The study will be located in Allegheny County in Pennsylvania across 20 neighborhoods (i.e., clusters), such that assigned intervention neighborhoods (n=4) will be matched to similar comparison neighborhoods (n=4), and 12 neighborhoods will be randomized either to receive the Collective Efficacy program (i.e., intervention neighborhood, n=6) or to health sessions (comparison neighborhood, n=6). Community surveys will examine neighborhood perspectives before and after program implementation.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* youth age 13 years old and up (all genders) * adults 18 years and older (all genders) * reside in neighborhoods selected to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
* individuals younger than 13 years old * individuals residing outside of participating neighborhoods
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline in perceptions of neighborhood collective efficacy and community cohesion | Change from baseline to approximately 12 months after baseline | Composite Measure mean score (range 1 - 5; 1 is low and 5 is best) of neighborhood-level perceptions of collective efficacy and community cohesion |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Community incidence of violence in 12 month period | Change from 1 year period before baseline to approximately 12 months after baseline | number of incidents of violence, i.e., assaults, gun violence, referrals to child protective services, compared to control neighborhoods. |
| Change from baseline in collective efficacy and neighborhood social norms | Change from baseline to approximately 12 months after baseline | Composite Collective Efficacy Measure mean score (range 1-5; 1 is lowest and 5 is best) of individual-level collective efficacy and neighborhood social norms |
| Number of self-reported events of violence exposure | Change from baseline to approximately 12 months after baseline | count of individual-level events of violence exposure |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTChristi Gomez
CONTACTAlison Culyba, MD, PhD, MPH
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAlison Culyba, MD, PhD, MPH
University of Pittsburgh
Outcome results
None listed