Racial identification, racial composition, and substance use vulnerability among African American adolescents and young adults.

Abstract

Objective Two studies examined racial identity (RI) as a protective factor against substance-related cognitions and substance use among Black adolescents and young adults living in high versus low percentage Black social environments. Method Using structural equation modeling techniques, Study 1 examined longer term effects of RI on substance use cognitions and behaviors among 720 Black adolescents. Study 2 examined the impact of RI and percentage Black peer environment on alcohol use among 203 Black young adults. Results Study 1 revealed that RI was prospectively associated with lower levels of perceived friends’ use and lower favorability of the substance user prototype and, in turn, lower substance willingness and use, but only among Black adolescents in predominantly White neighborhoods. These adolescents also reported greater access to substances. In Study 2, low RI Black young adults who reported predominantly White peer environments reported the highest levels of alcohol use. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of RI among Black youth and the impact of the social context on the health risk behaviors of adolescents and young adults. This research also demonstrates the utility of social psychological models, such as the prototype–willingness model, to examine mediating and moderating effects of individual differences and contextual factors on health risk cognitions and behavior. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.

The Indirect Effect of Ethnic Identity on Marijuana Use Through School Engagement: An African American High School Sample

“…Moreover, the results indicated that both ethnic identity and school engagement have a negative relationship with marijuana use, which is consistent with the past literature (e.g., Bryant et al, 2000; Pugh & Bry, 2007; Stock et al, 2013). However, the relationship between these protective factors and marijuana use is more complex.…”

“…Furthermore, the authors also found that positive ethnic identity was linked with less substance use and antidrug values. Additionally, researchers have found that ethnic identity in African American adolescents is associated with less substance use (Stock et al, 2013). Ethnic identity is also protective against marijuana use specifically.…”

“…This literature shows that high ethnic identity (an individual’s attachment to and knowledge of their ethnic group; Phinney, 1992) is associated with less substance use among African American adolescents (e.g., Brook, Balka, Brook, Win, & Gursen, 1998; Pugh & Bry, 2007; Stock et al, 2013). Little is known, however, about how ethnic identity works to lessen substance use.…”

Race, Adolescent Binge Drinking, and the Context of Neighborhood Exposure

“…However, they also find that white youth do not receive the same benefit of attending minority schools, possibly because white youth are “not as sensitive to the norms that oppose” substance use (Johnson and Hoffmann 2000:404), thus leaving them at increased risk of use even in minority contexts. More recently, Stock and colleagues (2012) examine contextual effects on substance use for youths in Iowa and Georgia, as well as young adults in Washington, D.C. They find that, among black adolescents living in white neighborhoods, those with a lessened racial identity have the highest levels of alcohol use, but those with high racial identification did experience a buffering effect in that they are less likely to use substances despite greater access to them.…”

Integrating knowledge across domains to advance the science of health behavior: overcoming challenges and facilitating success

“…Additionally, health behaviors are influenced by shared social and environmental determinants such as social norms, media exposure, and public policy [7][8][9][10]. For example, movies and other entertainment media that portray unhealthy behaviors can promote these behaviors [9] whereas taxes can discourage them [11].…”