Exposure to Violence and Depressive Symptoms among African American Adolescents in Public Housing

Healthy people 2010 identified the mental health of young people as a major public health concern (HHS, 2000). The mental health of African American youth is of particular concern because of their presence in dangerous urban environments. African American youth are more likely than White and Hispanic youth to reside in isolated public housing developments. Public housing serves African American families at a rate twice as high as the private renters' market. The violence, crime and social problems concentrated in most urban public housing developments have been well documented. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of exposure to domestic and community violence and exposure to community blight on depressive symptoms among African American youth in public housing.

Ninety eight African American youth ages 12 to 19 living in a Mid-Atlantic housing project participated in this study. Convenient sampling techniques were employed. The study used a cross-sectional research design. Univariate, bivariate and hierarchical regression analyses are reported.

Youth reported a 26 percent prevalence of depression. Depressive symptoms did not differ by gender. Depressive symptoms were positively correlated with age and victimization by community violence. Domestic and community correlates explained 11.5 percent of the variance in depressive symptoms. Results have implication to practice.

Preventative interventions targeting depressive symptoms among African American adolescents living in urban public housing should focus on creating safer communities by reducing incidents of community violence. This is particularly true for older African American adolescents.