The purpose of this study was to describe the effect of ecological risk factors on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in African American youth. A secondary purpose was to examine the possible role of a protective socio-cultural factor (i.e. ethnic identity) in the relationship between ecological risk factors and PTSD symptoms. A convenience sample of N = 122 participants (age range: 13-20 years) were purposively recruited from two charter schools in the Northeastern part of the United States. Self-administered questionnaires were utilized that included: the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (King, King, Leskin, and Foy, 1995), the Aesthetic Quality Subscale (Diez-Roux, 2004), the Traffic Safety Subscale (Saelens et al., 2003), the Noise from Neighbors and Home Subscale and the Air Quality Subscale (Carp and Carp, 1982), and the Africentrism Scale (Grills and Longshore, 1996).

Hierarchical regression models tested statistical hypotheses. Test statistics (t, F, R, ΔR²) had α = .05. Noise (β = .24, p ≤ .05) and air quality (β =.23, p ≤ .05) had a statistically significant effect on symptoms of PTSD. In addition, there was a joint effect between ethnic identity and noise (β = 22, p < .05) and poor air quality (β = .27, p ≤ .05) on PTSD symptoms. However, ethnic identity did not mediate the effect of noise and poor air quality on PTSD. Implications involve social work practitioners, researchers, and policymakers gaining knowledge on neighborhood noise and poor air quality as stressors in relation to PTSD.