# The Relations Between Neighborhood and Family Factors in the Healthy Development of African American Youth

> **NIH NIH SC2** · CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE · 2020 · $145,000

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Understanding the adoption of early healthy coping patterns in children and young
adolescents who live in violent contexts can reveal strengths that are vital in both
families and individuals who reside in neighborhoods characterized by high crime,
poverty, racial segregation and family stress. Research has shown that youth who
consistently experience and witness community violence in their neighborhoods are at
increased risk for psychological issues such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
Scholars have indicated that for African American populations, subjective measures
such as reports of neighborhood stress are associated with more psychological distress,
while youth perceptions of neighborhood cohesion are related to lower levels of
psychological stress. Coming home to a family who is aware of and discussing explicitly
coping measures to be taken in such contexts allows youth to develop resilience that
gives them the tools necessary to look beyond their environment to a different future.
One such tool is racial-ethnic socialization (RES), defined as the transmission of
attitudes, beliefs and values surrounding race/ethnicity. The focus of this proposed
project is to understand how neighborhood factors are related to race-related
socialization and healthy development of African American children. The proposed
project will collect data from a sample of 100 African American children ages 8-15 and
their parents within the first two years of the study to explore how subjective and
objective characteristics of neighborhoods is associated with mental health outcomes.
Additionally, we seek to understand if RES moderates the effects of neighborhood
factors on mental health outcomes. We will be using the collected data to examine each
of our aims. Aim 1 identifies objective and subjective neighborhood profiles that serve
as a basis for understanding how these profiles link to mental health outcomes for youth
(Aim 2). Finally, Aim 3 examines how neighborhood profiles and mental health
outcomes can be mitigated by ERS, providing evidence-based data for future
interventions in racial-ethnic socialization.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9889156
- **Project number:** 5SC2GM130440-02
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Meeta Banerjee
- **Activity code:** SC2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $145,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-07 → 2020-08-24

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9889156

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9889156, The Relations Between Neighborhood and Family Factors in the Healthy Development of African American Youth (5SC2GM130440-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9889156. Licensed CC0.

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