Understanding the Role of Neighborhoods on Urban Youth’s Substance Use and Mental Health: A Community-Based Substance Abuse Prevention Project
Funded by: National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director
Project dates: September 2020 - August 2025
Principal Investigator: Opara, IjeomaProject dates: September 2020 - August 2025
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This study determined whether there is a significant association between neighborhood characteristics, substance abuse, and mental health symptoms among urban youth. Using innovative methods in recruitment such as venue-based sampling, this study obtained a representative sample of youth to include those who are most at-risk such as street-involved and truant youth. Results from this study will advance the field of substance abuse prevention by including hidden populations of youth to inform the adaptation of a substance abuse prevention intervention.
Abstract on NIH RePORTERRelated Publications
Opara I, Weerakoon S, Saeed G, Duran-Becerra B, Pagan C (2026). Qualitative exploration of neighborhoods, youth substance misuse, and mental health in an urban community
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology [Epub 2026 Feb 20]. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2026.2617211.
SELECTED PRESS
