Civic Engagement Curriculum: a Strengths-Based Intervention Serving African American Youth in a Context of Toxic Stress

Chronic stress in under-resourced urban communities has been linked to negative outcomes for youth, warranting interventions to enhance resilience, an assets-building approach. This study assessed the effects of the Civic Engagement Curriculum (CEC) intervention on enhancing resilience. Data were collected from 82 low-income urban African American youth (M age = 12.92, SD = 0.80, 53.7 % female). Three schools participated in either the CEC or a health education control condition. Regression analyses revealed a positive main effect of the CEC on leadership, while bootstrap analyses revealed CEC moderation effects on leadership, life satisfaction, and coping under certain conditions of neighborhood and ethnic identity. This study underscores the value of understanding resilience-promoting factors for low-income urban youth facing chronic toxic stress. Language: en