Qualitative Exploration of Neighborhoods, Youth Substance Misuse, and Mental Health in an Urban Community

This qualitative study seeks to explore community-level risk and protective factors influencing substance use and mental health among urban youth in Paterson, New Jersey, and to identify actionable targets for prevention and mental health interventions using a community trauma framework.

Purposive and venue-based sampling was used as a method to recruit youth (N = 90). Fifteen focus groups were conducted; a majority of the sample identified as Black (71.1%) and (16.7%) identified as Hispanic with an average age of 16 years old. The sample included 54.4% male participants and 45.6% female participants. All focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed.

Three major themes emerged from our focus groups with youth from Paterson, which include: 1) the socio-cultural environment and its impact on substance misuse; 2) physical and built environment, and 3) educational and economic environment, all major constructs of the Community Trauma framework, which was used as a guide to interpret findings.

Our findings demonstrate that youth in Paterson view substance use as deeply intertwined with their socio-cultural, physical, and economic environments. These results highlight the need for multilevel interventions such as improving neighborhood safety and increasing access to culturally responsive mental health services. Policy implications include enacting zoning ordinances to limit the density of tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol retailers near schools and implementing school-based mental health programs. Taken together, these strategies can reduce youth exposure to risk environments and promote healthier developmental trajectories for urban youth of color.