Neighborhood Disadvantage and Adolescent Substance Use Disorder

Abstract

The ecological-transactional model proposes that nested contexts interact to influence development. From this perspective, child maltreatment represents an individual-level risk factor posited to interact with numerous other nested contextual levels, such as the neighborhood environment, to affect development. The aim of this study was to investigate whether adolescents with maltreatment histories represent a vulnerable group for whom disadvantaged neighborhoods confer risk for substance use disorders. Participants were 411 adolescents (ages 15–18; mean age=16.24) from an investigation of the developmental sequelae of childhood maltreatment. Multiple-group structural equation models, controlling for family-level SES, indicated that neighborhood disadvantage was associated with more marijuana dependence symptoms among maltreated, but not non-maltreated adolescents. Moreover, among maltreated adolescents, those who experienced multiple subtypes of maltreatment were at greatest risk for problematic marijuana use in the context of neighborhood disadvantage. Interestingly, the direct effect of neighborhood disadvantage, but not the interaction with maltreatment, was related to adolescent alcohol dependence symptoms. Results highlight the importance of considering multiple levels of influence when examining risk associated with child maltreatment.

Developmental pathways from child maltreatment to adolescent substance use: The roles of posttraumatic stress symptoms and mother-child relationships

“…Early adolescence may be a developmentally sensitive period for experiencing these symptoms that put youth at particularly high risk for later substance use. The null findings for internalizing pathways are consistent with prior research that found no indirect effects of maltreatment on substance use via internalizing problems (e.g., Handley et al, 2015; Jones et al, 2013). Internalizing problems such as lack of energy, timid and shy personality, and socially withdrawal may be protective of substance use, counterbalancing other internalizing problems, such as depression and anxiety associated with risk, leading to null results (Tandon, Cardeli, & Luby, 2009).…”

“…In general, studies have found that maltreatment leads to adolescent substance use via externalizing problems, but not internalizing problems (Handley, Rogosch, Cuild, & Cicchetti, 2015; Jones et al, 2013; Rogosch, Oshri, & Cicchetti, 2010). For instance, an intervening role was found only for externalizing problems, but not for internalizing problems, in an examination of the relation between sexual abuse by age 12 and alcohol use at age 14 (Jones et al, 2013).…”

Characteristics of Child Maltreatment and Adolescent Marijuana Use

“…Future research is needed to attain an even more complete picture of the various mechanisms by which child maltreatment exerts its adverse effects. For example, Handley (2015) observed that neighborhood disadvantage conferred risk for marijuana dependence symptoms more strongly for maltreated children than non-maltreated children.…”

Neighborhood Disorganization, Social Support, Substance Use and Functioning amongst Adolescents; an Analysis of the Ohio Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative

“…The microsystem is the setting within which the individual is behaving at any given moment in his or her life. This system directly affects and influences the adolescent's behavior, social relationships, cognition, and physical skills (Handley, Rogosch, Guild, & Cicchetti, 2015). This system is comprised of family, friends, school, church as well as the neighborhood in which they live.…”