Adolescent & Young Adult Collaborative
Academic Co-Lead: Alison Culyba, MD PhD MPH, Division Director, Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health, and Clinical and Translational Science, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Community Co-Lead: Felicia Savage Friedman, M.ED, E-RYT 500, Founder & CEO, YogaRoots On Location, LLC
The Adolescent and Young Adult Collaborative focuses on the continued development and implementation of community engaged research across multiple areas of physical and mental health, violence prevention, social networks, substance abuse, advocacy, racial and gender equity, and community justice.
Creating Peace
This is a cluster randomized controlled, community partner project examining the effectiveness of a program aimed to prevent youth violence with extra attention on racism and discrimination prevention. The program is being implemented through the “Creating Peace” curriculum at community sites and youth in comparison neighborhoods receive job skills education.
Expect Respect
This is a cluster-randomized school-based study that examines the effectiveness of a teen dating violence and sexual violence prevention program called Expect Respect for preventing serious violence perpetration among middle school students. Intervention schools implement a support group-based violence prevention program facilitated by trained staff. Comparison schools provide “enhanced usual care” assessments for students.
Forging Hopeful Futures
Through a community-partnered cluster-randomized trial, this study is refining and evaluating Forging Hopeful Futures, a youth empowerment intervention that combines economic justice content from job readiness training, racial and gender justice content from gender-transformative programming, and leadership building as a novel multi-level violence prevention intervention. Neighborhoods are randomly assigned to receive either the Forging Hopeful Futures curriculum or Individual wellness checks. The team partners with schools and community organizations in neighborhoods assigned to the Forging Hopeful Futures curriculum to deliver the program in school and community settings. Youth in neighborhoods randomized to the individual wellness checks participate in a strengths-based telephone conversation and receive tailored resources based on needs identified during the call. The study examines the impact of these two approaches on youth violence, teen dating violence, relationship abuse, and bullying.
Multilevel Examination of The Protective and Risk Factors Related to Black Youths Racial Discrimination Experiences: A Socioecological Approach
This study explores how racial discrimination affects emotional health and substance use among Black adolescents and young adults. Using data from an ongoing cluster-randomized trial (Forging Hopeful Futures) the research examines individual, interpersonal, and contextual risk and protective factors to identify intervention points. The study includes longitudinal data analysis and interviews with Black youth to understand how different levels of their social environment influence their responses to discrimination. Findings will inform strengths-based prevention strategies to reduce the psychological and behavioral effects of discrimination.
Get Safe: Social Networks and Activity Spaces
The overarching goal of this project is to gain insight into the role of social networks and activity spaces in shaping posttraumatic stress, network and place-based safety and coping strategies, and future violence experiences among assault-injured youth and youth who witness violence. Survey results will inform best practices for how hospital-based violence intervention programs strategically engage youths’ adult and peer networks to promote recovery and prevent repeat violence.
Using Ecological Momentary Assessments to Identify Coping Strategies and Prevent Substance Use
This study investigates how real-time coping strategies can buffer the effects of neighborhood violence on youth substance use. Using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment (GEMA), the study aims to identify resilience factors at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels. It includes qualitative interviews and a pilot study with 100 youth participants to explore how momentary resilience and local resources influence substance use in response to stress and violence.
Healthy Allegheny Teens Survey (HATS)
HATS is a biannual data collection conducted as a collaboration among the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, the Allegheny County Health Department, and local school districts. This study is modeled on the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey and engages high school students to assess youth strengths, health behaviors, and barriers to care. Results are used to guide interventions for youth in their schools and neighborhoods.
Participatory Design of Adolescent-Centered School Health Services
This study will map opportunities and priorities for adolescent-centered school health care delivery while optimizing a model of school-based telemedicine. Using human-centered design methods, we will unite adolescents, caregivers, school partners, and health care providers to collaboratively design this school health care innovation. Results will inform broad efforts to improve school health services and local efforts to improve and expand school-based telemedicine in local high schools.
Adultification Measurement Tool (AMT)
This study aims to develop and validate the Adultification Measurement Tool (AMT), a novel instrument designed to systematically assess adultification experiences among Black girls. Using a mixed-methods approach the study seeks to create a reliable and developmentally appropriate tool. The ultimate goal is to support researchers, educators, and healthcare professionals in identifying and addressing the effects of adultification to improve outcomes for marginalized youth.
Evaluating the Influence of Hair and Chosen Appearance on Healthcare Delivery for Youth in Hospital Settings
This mixed-methods study explores how adolescents’ chosen appearances – such as hair, clothing, and grooming—shapes their experiences within pediatric hospital settings. Through Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) surveys, photo elicitation, semi-structured interviews, and human-centered design activities, the study engages adolescents, caregivers, and pediatric providers to identify appearance-related biases in care. The goal is to inform provider training and institutional policy reforms that promote dignity-affirming, equitable, and culturally responsive healthcare environments.
Empowering Teens to Thrive (ET3)
The hospital-based violence intervention program and community-based mentorship program supports youth ages 12-25 injured or impacted by community violence and their families in Allegheny County, PA. Grounded in healing-centered approaches, ET3 includes 4 core components tailored to youth’s and family’s individualized needs and goals: (1) safety planning, (2) psychological support and linkage to embedded and/or community-based mental health services, (3) intensive case management for system navigation and linkage to social services, and (4) the ET3 community-based mentoring program. Through the ET3 mentoring program component, we have developed a successful model for individualized trauma-sensitive mentorship for teens injured or impacted by violence. ET3 is strategically embedded within the UPMC Center for Adolescent and Young Adult Health (CAYAH), an integrated medical and behavioral health services outpatient clinic. ET3 is recognized as a member program in the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention. With funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, we are helping to integrate key standards and indicators into program evaluation. Through an implementation science approach, this project uses surveys, interviews, and case reviews to measure the impact of program participation on youth thriving.
Youth Research Advisory Board (YRAB)
YRAB is a group of adolescents who are interested in research and meet the first Thursday of every month on Zoom to discuss research studies going on in adolescent and young adult health. This gives researchers an opportunity to present to youth and get their feedback on their studies. It provides a platform for engagement, collaboration, and bridging the gap between youth and researchers.
SOVA Lab
This team focuses on how to use technology to improve mental health services for adolescents with symptoms of depression or anxiety. They have also created a website for teens to provide support and enhance communication about these issues.