Psychology researchers at DePaul University have received a $6.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to reduce African American youth violence. The project will reach ninth graders in Chicago Public Schools and teach them coping skills to deal with stress, enhance resilience, and prevent interpersonal violence and suicide.  “In communities hard-hit by poverty and drugs, children witness violence and it leads to more violence. Children in these environments do what they do because they’re trying to survive,” said W. LaVome Robinson, professor of psychology at DePaul and principal investigator for the research. “We are giving children ways to minimize the likelihood they are going to be exposed to, participate in or experience violence,” she said. 

At the heart of the Success Over Stress Violence Prevention Project is a 15-session, culturally relevant course for African American ninth graders in CPS. The program has gone through two efficacy trials with clinical researchers and yielded strong results: 80 percent of participants reported the course helped them meet their stress-reduction goals. The National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is now funding this 5-year effectiveness or “real world” trial, which will train school social workers to deliver the curriculum, as well as a train-the-trainer component. The grant is the largest DePaul has ever received for research. The Success Over Stress program has a participatory approach, so one of the first steps of the efficacy trials was listening to the students. “A lot of programs and researchers come in and say, ‘We have the solution and know what’s best for you.’ Instead, we’re trying to augment the natural resilience the children already have,” said Jason. Collaborators on the project include Rush University Medical Center and Heartland Health Centers, which administer the school-based health centers in Chicago Public Schools.