Racial differences in substance use: Using longitudinal data to fill gaps in knowledge

Abstract

Despite the fact that several studies have addressed racial differences in substance use, there still exist gaps in understanding the development of substance use among African-Americans. In this chapter, we focused on three major gaps: (1) the lack of attention to heterogeneity among substance users and substances used, (2) the failure to adequately explain why there are differences in age of onset, prevalence, and frequency of substance use for African-Americans compared to Whites, and (3) the lack of research to examine racial differences in how substance use relates to other behaviors. To address these gaps, we used data from two prospective longitudinal studies, the Pittsburgh Youth Study and the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Consistent with other studies, we found racial differences in substance use. However, the nature and direction of these differences depended on the type of drug examined, as well as the age, gender, and cohort of the respondents. Therefore, when examining racial differences in substance use, one must consider individual and contextual factors. There were few racial differences in progression from initiation to regular use and few proximal or distal predictors of later onset tobacco smoking among African-American young men. However, for young women, it appeared that racial differences in the development of positive alcohol and tobacco expectancies might explain some of the observed differences in substance use. More research is needed to identify individual and normative factors that may affect racial differences in experimental and regular use of drugs. Finally, although we found, as other studies have also found, that violence is related to alcohol and drug intoxication and to drug dealing, there were no racial differences in these associations. Future research should focus on determining whether differential prevention targets are needed for African-Americans and Whites and evaluate differential efficacy of interventions.