The Association between Neighborhood Disorder and Hypertension Mediated through Stress

poster abstractThis study seeks to understand the relationship between the physical and social neighborhood environment and self-reported hypertension status in order to improve the health of Baltimore City residents. However, the mechanism through which neighborhood disorder is associated with hypertension is unclear. Self-reported hypertension status and demographic information from 711 Baltimore City heads of households from the Windows to Health survey was combined with corresponding neighborhood block order/disorder ratings on the presence of violence, alcohol and other drugs using the Neighborhood Inventory for Environmental Typology (NIfTEy). Regression models were used to test the relationship between (1) neighborhood disorder and hypertension status, (2) neighborhood disorder and stress symptoms (tiredness, headache, and trouble concentrating), and (3) stress symptoms and hypertension status. Results showed a statistically significant association between neighborhood disorder (violence) and stress symptoms (tiredness) after adjusting for age, sex, race, employment status, and highest level of education completed (OR 1.35, CI 1.03-1.77). However, there was no association between neighborhood disorder and hypertension status or stress symptoms and hypertension status. It is possible stress symptoms could be related to other health outcomes. Given the shown relationship between neighborhood disorder and stress symptoms, public health practitioners should design and implement neighborhood level interventions in communities with high levels of disorder in order to improve the health and well-being of residents

Understanding the relationship between alcohol outlet density and life expectancy in Baltimore City: The role of community violence and community disadvantage

This research investigated the relationship between alcohol outlet density (AOD) and life expectancy, as mediated by community violence and community disadvantage. We used linear regression models to assess bivariate and multivariate relationships. There was a negative bivariate association between liquor store density and average life expectancy (β = â 7.3370, p < 0.001). This relationship was partially attenuated when controlling for community disadvantage and fully attenuated when controlling for community violence. Bars/taverns (i.e., onâ premise) were not associated with average life expectancy (β = â 0.589, p = 0.220). Liquor store density is associated with higher levels of community disadvantage and higher rates of violence, both of which are associated with lower life expectancies. Future research, potential intervention, and current related policies are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146620/1/jcop22099_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146620/2/jcop22099.pd

Community Violence and Youth: Affect, Behavior, Substance Use, and Academics

Community violence is recognized as a major public health problem (WHO, World Report on Violence and Health,2002) that Americans increasingly understand has adverse implications beyond inner-cities. However, the majority of research on chronic community violence exposure focuses on ethnic minority, impoverished, and/or crime-ridden communities while treatment and prevention focuses on the perpetrators of the violence, not on the youth who are its direct or indirect victims. School-based treatment and preventive interventions are needed for children at elevated risk for exposure to community violence. In preparation, a longitudinal, community epidemiological study, The Multiple Opportunities to Reach Excellence (MORE) Project, is being fielded to address some of the methodological weaknesses presented in previous studies. This study was designed to better understand the impact of children’s chronic exposure to community violence on their emotional, behavioral, substance use, and academic functioning with an overarching goal to identify malleable risk and protective factors which can be targeted in preventive and intervention programs. This paper describes the MORE Project, its conceptual underpinnings, goals, and methodology, as well as implications for treatment and preventive interventions and future research

Community Violence and Youth: Affect, Behavior, Substance Use, and Academics

Community violence is recognized as a major public health problem (WHO, World Report on Violence and Health, 2002) that Americans increasingly understand has adverse implications beyond inner-cities. However, the majority of research on chronic community violence exposure focuses on ethnic minority, impoverished, and/or crime-ridden communities while treatment and prevention focuses on the perpetrators of the violence, not on the youth who are its direct or indirect victims. School-based treatment and preventive interventions are needed for children at elevated risk for exposure to community violence. In preparation, a longitudinal, community epidemiological study, The Multiple Opportunities to Reach Excellence (MORE) Project, is being fielded to address some of the methodological weaknesses presented in previous studies. This study was designed to better understand the impact of children’s chronic exposure to community violence on their emotional, behavioral, substance use, and academic functioning with an overarching goal to identify malleable risk and protective factors which can be targeted in preventive and intervention programs. This paper describes the MORE Project, its conceptual underpinnings, goals, and methodology, as well as implications for treatment and preventive interventions and future research

Community Violence and Youth: Affect, Behavior, Substance Use, and Academics

Community violence is recognized as a major public health problem (WHO, World Report on Violence and Health, 2002) that Americans increasingly understand has adverse implications beyond inner-cities. However, the majority of research on chronic community violence exposure focuses on ethnic minority, impoverished, and/or crime-ridden communities while treatment and prevention focuses on the perpetrators of the violence, not on the youth who are its direct or indirect victims. School-based treatment and preventive interventions are needed for children at elevated risk for exposure to community violence. In preparation, a longitudinal, community epidemiological study, The Multiple Opportunities to Reach Excellence (MORE) Project, is being fielded to address some of the methodological weaknesses presented in previous studies. This study was designed to better understand the impact of children’s chronic exposure to community violence on their emotional, behavioral, substance use, and academic functioning with an overarching goal to identify malleable risk and protective factors which can be targeted in preventive and intervention programs. This paper describes the MORE Project, its conceptual underpinnings, goals, and methodology, as well as implications for treatment and preventive interventions and future research

Effects of Youth´s Exposure to Community Violence: The MORE Project

Research on chronic community violence exposure focuses on ethnic minority, impoverished, and crime-ridden communities while treatment and prevention focuses on the perpetrators of the violence, not on the youth who are its direct or indirect victims. School-based treatment and preventive interventions are needed for children at elevated risk for exposure to community violence. This paper describes The Multiple Opportunities to Reach Excellence (MORE) Project, a longitudinal, community epidemiological study currently being fielded to better understand the impact of children´s chronic exposure to community violence on their emotional, behavioral, substance use, and academic functioning with an overarching goal to identify malleable risk and protective factors which can be targeted in preventive and intervention programs

Changes in Attitudes toward Guns and Shootings following Implementation of the Baltimore Safe Streets Intervention

Among youth 15 to 24&nbsp;years of age, homicide and nonfatal shootings are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Urban youth's attitudes and perceptions about the use of gun violence to resolve conflict present a major barrier to efforts to reduce gun homicides and nonfatal shootings. The current investigation extends the existing literature on attitudes toward guns and shootings among high-risk youth ages 18 to 24 by measuring perceived norms and viewpoints regarding gun violence in two analogous Baltimore City neighborhoods pre-implementation and 1-year post-implementation of the Safe Streets intervention (adapted from the CeaseFire/Cure Violence intervention). The Safe Streets intervention is designed for communities with high rates of gun violence and utilizes outreach workers to identify and build trusting relationships with youth ages 15 to 24 who are at greatest risk of being involved in gun violence. The outreach workers also position themselves in the community so that they can rapidly intervene in disputes that have the potential to lead to gun violence. Chi-squared tests and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) were used to examine changes in attitudes toward gun violence 1&nbsp;year after the implementation of the Safe Streets intervention. There was a statistically significantly improvement in 43&nbsp;% of the attitudes assessed in the intervention community post-intervention compared to 13&nbsp;% of the attitudes in the control community. There was a statistically significant improvement in the violent attitudes toward personal conflict resolution scale after implementation of the intervention in both the intervention (b = -0.522, p &lt; 0.001) and control community (b = -0.204, p &lt; 0.032). Exposure to the intervention (e.g., seeing stop shooting signs in your neighborhood) was also associated with the nonviolent attitudes toward conflict scale. Overall, the study found greater improvement in attitudes toward violence in the intervention community following the implementation of the Safe Streets program. These findings offer promising insights into future community violence prevention efforts