Lived Experiences of Black Girls in Richmond

This study is to understand the quality of life of Black Girls in Richmond, Virginia, which includes generating a report about the status of Black girls in Richmond. Research or reports about the state of the girls are growing more common across the country in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Most of these studies generate deficit narratives focusing on these groups' problems, needs, and deficiencies. Fewer studies focus solely on the experience of Black girls specifically. This study proposes a new approach and explores the quality of life of Black girls using an asset-based approach that thinks differently about the subject of these studies and how to address their needs appropriately.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Lived Experiences, Strengths, and Community Assets of Black Girls
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Survey; Behavioral: Focus group; Behavioral: Interviews

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 339

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Virginia
    • Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23284
      • Virginia Commonwealth University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Black girls aged 12-17 who self identity as cisgender girls and who live in Richmond, VA; Black emerging adult women aged 18-22 who self identify as cisgender female and who lived in Richmond, VA when they were under 18; Parents/guardians of Black girls aged 12-17 who live in Richmond, VA

Description

Inclusion Criteria (Online Survey and focus groups):

• Self-identify as Black/African American adolescent cisgender girls, between the ages of 12-17, and reside in the City of Richmond.

Exclusion Criteria (Online Survey and focus groups):

• Girls who are not between 12 to 17 years of age, do not self-identify as Black, does not identify as cisgender, legal residence is not located in the city of Richmond, and/or who do not read English.

Inclusion Criteria (Interviews):

• Parents/guardians (any sex; no age range for parent/guardian) of Black girls (ages 12-17) who reside in the City of Richmond; and
• Black emerging adult women (ages 18-22) who resided in the City of Richmond when they were under 18.

Exclusion Criteria (Interviews):

• Parent/Guardian - Does not have a child (daughter) between the ages of 12-17; child does not self-identify as cisgender and Black/African American; legal residence is not in the city of Richmond; unable to read, write, or speak in English.
• Emerging adult women - does not self-identify as Black/African American, under 18 or over the age of 22, did not reside in the City of Richmond under 18, and unable to read, write, or speak in English.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Focus group	Behavioral: Focus group; Black adolescent girls (aged 12-17) will participate in a focus group and will be asked questions regarding their strengths, family, school and community resources, etc.
Online Survey	Behavioral: Survey; Black adolescent girls (aged 12-17) will participate in an online survey and will be asked questions regarding their strengths, family, school and community experiences, sexual education knowledge, physical health and mental wellbeing, etc.
Interviews	Behavioral: Interviews; Parents/guardians of Black girls (aged 12-17) and Black emerging adult women aged 18-22 will participate in individual interviews and will be asked questions about their understanding of Black girls' strengths and resources.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Survey Outcome	Exploration Subscale is a 7-item instrument about individuals' exploration of their ethnicity measured on a 4-point scale. Community Experience Subscale is measured by a 5-item Rasch-validated measure of youth interpersonal resilience measured on a 4-point scale. Gendered Racial Pride & Empowerment Subscale is a 19-item scale that reflect the intersectional racial and gender messages young African American women receive measured on a 4-point scale. Spiritual Support Subscale is a 13-item scale that measures spiritual maturity in persons of diverse religious and spiritual beliefs measured on a 6-point scale. Safety and Perceived Safety is a 7-item scale that measures community safety perceived measured on a 5-point scale. Physical Health & Mental Wellbeing is measured by 13 items of the 36-Item Short Form Survey measured on a 6-point scale or a 5-point scale. Sleep scale is a 5-item measure of subjective sleep quality for adolescents aged 12-18 years measured on a 6-point scale.	3 months
Focus group outcome	Strengths of Black girls: summarize the themes of strengths of Black girls; Community assets: summarize the themes of community assets for Black girls	3 months
Interviews outcome	Strengths of Black girls: summarize the themes of strengths of Black girls; Community assets: summarize the themes of community assets for Black girls	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Virginia Commonwealth University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nakeina Douglas-Glenn, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 21, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 15, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): November 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 4, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 4, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): May 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 3, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Investigative Techniques; Epidemiologic Methods; Data Collection; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Public Health; Environment and Public Health; Interviews as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires; Focus Groups
• Other Study ID Numbers: HM20025559

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No