To assess the prevalence and correlates of anxiety related to police contact among Black emerging adults, investigators administered computer-assisted surveys of 300 Black students (aged 18-29) enrolled at a community college or university in St. Louis, MO. Among participants, moderately high scores were recorded for police contact anxiety resulting from being a victim of police use of force, witnessing in-person police use of force, and seeing a video in the media of police use of force. Male sex, unemployment, and witnessing more community violence were significantly associated with greater police contact anxiety. When compared with employed participants, those who were unemployed were more likely to have increased police contact anxiety resulting from seeing a video in the media of police use of force. Participants who reported more past experiences of witnessing community violence were more likely to have increased police contact anxiety as a result of being a victim of police use of force than those who had witnessed it less often.
