Pediatric Critical Care Fellow Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Background: Safe, supportive, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) have been shown to promote resilience and mitigate negative health outcomes for youth experiencing trauma. Within the US, there are limited studied programs that utilize community-partnered research to develop interventions that foster SSNRs among those exposed to firearm violence. Objective: To gain the perspective of youth who have experienced community violence—specifically, on their definition of resilience, personal social connections in building resilience, and self-reported needs when coping with traumatic experiences, in order to build youth-partnered programming that can mitigate the harms associated with those experiences. Design/Methods: Participants aged 15 to 24 from a large, urban setting were recruited from support programs for youth who had either been directly victimized and referred by a hospital-based violence intervention program or had elevated exposure to firearm violence to be interviewed. Interviews were conducted over zoom or in person for 15-30min covering the meaning of resilience to young adults and expectations of their support system. Participants were compensated for their time. Community partners helped foster trusting relationships with participants and were involved in all aspects of the study.
