# Understanding the Role of Neighborhoods on Urban Youth's Substance Use and Mental Health: A Community-Based Substance Abuse Prevention Project

> **NIH NIH DP5** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2020 · $127,243

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Urban youth in the United States are more likely to be exposed to licit and illicit substances, experience higher levels of
anxiety and depressive symptoms, and live in under-resourced areas. Such a disparity leaves urban youth at risk of poorer
health outcomes than their counterparts. Since youth substance use is on the rise, it is imperative for innovative methods
to be utilized in order to tackle this complex issue. The association between substance use, neighborhood characteristics,
and mental health outcomes in youth is emerging in the literature yet disparities continue to impact youth in urban
communities. Paterson, New Jersey is a northeastern, urban community which has one the highest rates of substance
abuse in the nation. Youth living in Paterson are overly exposed to drug use in their neighborhoods and have extreme
access to substances, leaving them more at risk to initiate use at earlier ages and more likely to become dependent into
adulthood. My research in this community has shown that neighborhood and community level characteristics, in addition
to depressive and anxiety symptoms among youth, can be key facilitators to early substance use. Previous research has
overwhelmingly placed the blame on individuals, particularly youth, as opposed to acknowledging the systemic structures
and the environmental context in which youth are nested. Although substance use prevention interventions exist, youth
who are the most vulnerable and often the hardest to reach, are not engaged in prevention interventions or connected to
resources. In order to reach this at-risk population, I propose to use an innovative method, venue-based sampling, to
recruit at-risk youth. The research addresses these specific aims:
 Aim 1: To examine the association between neighborhood characteristics, substance use, and mental health
symptoms among Paterson youth using quantitative and qualitative methods.
 Aim 2: Use findings from Aim 1 to inform the adaptation of a community-based and evidence-based substance
use prevention intervention for Paterson youth.
 Aim 3: Pilot the intervention on a sample of Paterson youth.
I hypothesize that there will be significant differences in risk and protective factors by race, gender, age, and
socioeconomic status among Paterson youth. This project will use multiple sources of data to inform findings and use
preliminary data to prepare a more robust R01 clinical trial application to be implemented in Paterson and other urban
cities that will account for unique differences in urban youth.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10018167
- **Project number:** 1DP5OD029636-01
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Ijeoma Opara
- **Activity code:** DP5 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $127,243
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-10 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10018167

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10018167, Understanding the Role of Neighborhoods on Urban Youth's Substance Use and Mental Health: A Community-Based Substance Abuse Prevention Project (1DP5OD029636-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10018167. Licensed CC0.

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