NSF Award
2100835
Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to the Winston Salem State University will support efforts to enrich scientific understanding of Black youth’s experiences with school-based racial stress and trauma (RST) by developing a conceptual model and assessment tool. Knowledge gained by this research will provide insight into Black youth’s experiences of RST and provide comparison for the more well-known studies that pertain to adult experiences.<br/><br/>The project will employ a mixed-method sequential exploratory design whereby qualitative methods are used to create and validate a new assessment tool based on the developed conceptual framework. The quantitative methods will be used to establish the factor structure and test the psychometric properties of the new instrument. The project will include the identification and conceptualizing of the most salient features of school-based RST from the perspective of Black youth (ages 10-18) using a phenomenological approach to analyze data collected from daily reporting, interviews and focus groups. It will then generate items for the assessment tool and use expert validation and cognitive interviewing to ensure alignment with the conceptual model and enhance validity. The survey methods to establish the factor structure of the assessment tool and provide evidence for measurement invariance, reliability, construct validity, and concurrent validity. Findings will also advance science by 1) attending to the indelible racism Black youth face in school, rather than embodying a colorblind perspective that prevails in the majority of theoretically-derived school-based mental health models; and 2) producing a means for measuring school-based RST for this group. This work will inform future phases of a broader research program which include understanding educators’ awareness and preparation for management of Black youths’ RST and development and dissemination of a school-based intervention grounded in the RST conceptual framework. This project also provides intensive mentoring and training experiences for underrepresented undergraduate students, integrates instructional activities focused on research methodology and test development, and communicates the outcomes of this research to school districts through workshops and outreach materials disseminating study findings.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
