The NIfETy Method for Environmental Assessment
of Neighborhood-level Indicators of Violence, Alcohol,
and Other Drug Exposure
C. D. M. Furr-Holden
&
M. J. Smart
&
J. L. Pokorni
&
N. S. Ialongo
&
P. J. Leaf
&
H. D. Holder
&
J. C. Anthony
Published online: 18 October 2008
#
Society for Prevention Research 2008
Abstract There are limited validated quantitative assess-
ment methods to measure features of the built and social
environment that might form the basis for environmental
preventive interventions. This study describes a model
approach for epidemiologic assessment of suspected envi-
ronmental determinants of violence, alcohol and other drug
(VAOD) exposure and fills this gap in current research. The
investigation sought to test the feasibility of a systematic
and longitudinal assessment of residential block character-
istics related to physical and social disorder and indicators
of VAOD exposure. Planometric data were used to establish
a stratified random sample of street segments within
defined neighborhoods of an urban metropolitan area. Field
rater assessments of these neighborhood street segments
were conducted using the Neighborhood Inventory for
Environmental Typology (NIfETy). This report provides a
detailed description of the NIfETy Method, including
metric properties of the NIfETy Instrument and outcomes
of training procedures and quality control measures. Also
presented are block-level characteristics and estimates of
observable signs of VAOD activity. This work is a first
step toward developing future community-level environ-
mental preventive interventions geared to reduce commu-
nity VAOD exposure among youthful urban populations
and may prove to be useful to other public health research
groups as well.
Keywords VAOD prevention
.
Neighborhood assessment
methodology
.
Youth violence prevention
Introduction
This investigation sought to develop a systematic, city-wide
assessment of residential neighborhood environmental
characteristics of violence, alcohol, and other drug (VAOD)
exposure. The approach, termed the NIfETy Method,
includes a comprehensive assessment tool (i.e., the NIfETy
Instrument), training protocol, and quality measures
employed simultaneously to identify potentially malleable
characteristics of the built and social environment. The
utility of this work is threefold. First, the NIfETy Method
provides a baseline assessment of the physical and social
environment. Second, when combined with youth data on
Prev Sci (2008) 9:245–255
DOI 10.1007/s11121-008-0107-8
Sources of support: This work was supported by a grant from the
National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse 1R01AA015196.
C. D. M. Furr-Holden (*)
:
M. J. Smart
:
N. S. Ialongo
:
P. J. Leaf
Department of Mental Health,
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health,
624 N Broadway,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
e-mail: dholden@jhsph.edu
C. D. M. Furr-Holden
:
J. L. Pokorni
Alcohol, Policy, and Safety Research Center,
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation,
11720 Beltsville Drive, Suite 900,
Calverton, MD 20705, USA
H. D. Holder
Prevention Research Center,
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation,
1995 University Avenue, Suite 450,
Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
J. C. Anthony
Department of Epidemiology,
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine,
B601 West Fee Hall,
East Lansing, MI 48824, USA