Predictors of Tobacco and Alcohol Refusal Efficacy for Urban and Rural African-American Adolescents

Abstract

This study sought to determine the relative contributions of individual, family, peer, and community risk and promotive factors in explaining alcohol and tobacco refusal attitudes among 227 African-American adolescents (ages 12 to 17) from urban and rural areas. Hierarchical linear regression (HLR) results revealed differences in the predictive value of risk and promotive factors with respect to tobacco and alcohol refusal attitudes. Specifically, individual and peer risk factors were predictive of tobacco refusal attitudes among youths. Individual, peer, and family risk and promotive factors were predictive of adolescents' alcohol refusal attitudes. Community factors were not significant predictors of youths' ability to refuse tobacco and alcohol, after controlling for more proximal influences. Future research should consider other psychosocial influences within an ecological framework that may account for additional variance in substance use attitudes among African-American adolescents.

Special population segments and the addiction syndrome.

“…Strong family relationships reduce youth alcohol use. More specifi cally, family connectedness and a strong sense of family support correlate with reduced alcohol use ( Nasim, Belgrave, Corona, & Townsend, 2009 ;Resnick et al, 1997 ). This was evident in Vidourek and King ' s (2010) fi nding that strong family relationships reduced alcohol use.…”

Development and Outcomes of a Text Messaging Tobacco Cessation Intervention with Urban Adolescents

“…3 As African American teens age, they are more likely to report lifetime use of tobacco. 4 Additionally, urban African American adolescents' social networks (i.e., peers who smoke, access to and availability of tobacco products) have been associated with teens' ability to refuse use of tobacco, 5 thereby underscoring the need for a social network counseling approach for this population. Thus, there remains a need to address tobacco use among African American young persons with creative interventions designed to engage youth through nontraditional pathways of care.…”

Drug refusal skills training does not enhance outcomes of African American adolescents with substance use problems

“…(Epstein, Griffin, & Botvin, 2001; Epstein, Bang, & Botvin, 2007; Belgrave, Reed, Plybon, & Cornielle, 2004; Nasim, Belgrave, Corona, & Townsend, 2009; Nasim, Utsey, Corona, & Belgrave, 2006; Cunningham, Walton, Goldstein, Chermack, Shope, Bingham, Zimmerman, & Blow, 2009). One program significantly reduced the odds of drinking for African American and Hispanic youth ( M = 12.87 years of age ) living in low income urban settings (Williams, Epstein, Botvin, Schinke, Diaz, 1998).…”