Profiles of substance use related protective and risk factors and their associations with alcohol and tobacco use initiation among black adolescents

J Ethn Subst Abuse. 2024;23(1):72-94. doi: 10.1080/15332640.2022.2064383. Epub 2022 Apr 25.

Abstract

Insufficient attention to protective and risk factors of particular salience for Black youth (e.g., racial identity and racial discrimination) in population-based substance use studies has left gaps in our understanding of alcohol and tobacco use development in Black adolescents. The current study aimed to capture the clustering of such understudied factors and their collective influence on alcohol and tobacco use initiation among Black adolescents. Data were drawn from The National Survey of American Life (n = 1,170; age range = 13-17; 6.9% Afro Caribbean, 93.1% African American; 50.0% female). Latent profile analysis applied to 11 indicators representing family, community, and individual level protective and risk factors revealed (1) High Vulnerability (high risk, low protective factors; 17.5%), (2) Moderate Vulnerability (moderate on both; 63.2%), and (3) Low Vulnerability (high protective, low risk factors; 19.3%) classes. Classes differed significantly by religious community support, school bonding, quality of relationship with mother, religious involvement, and interpersonal trauma. Relative to Class 2, Class 1 had higher odds of alcohol (OR = 1.518, CI:1.092-2.109) and tobacco use (OR = 1.998, CI:1.401-2.848); Class 3 had lower odds of alcohol (OR = 0.659, CI:0.449-0.968) but not tobacco use (OR = 0.965, CI:0.611-1.523). Findings suggest that alcohol and tobacco use initiation among Black adolescents is shaped by the collective influence of community and family level support, with commonly experienced risk factors such as non-interpersonal trauma distinguishing liability to a lesser degree. The equally modest prevalence of tobacco use among low and moderate vulnerability classes further indicates that fostering these connections may be especially effective in reducing tobacco use risk.

Keywords: Black/African American; adolescents; alcohol; racial discrimination; racial identity; religiosity; tobacco.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / ethnology
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology
  • Alcohol Drinking* / epidemiology
  • Alcohol Drinking* / ethnology
  • Alcoholism / epidemiology
  • Alcoholism / ethnology
  • Alcoholism / etiology
  • Black or African American* / psychology
  • Black or African American* / statistics & numerical data
  • Caribbean People* / psychology
  • Caribbean People* / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Protective Factors
  • Racism* / ethnology
  • Racism* / psychology
  • Racism* / statistics & numerical data
  • Risk Factors
  • Social Identification
  • Social Support* / psychology
  • Social Support* / statistics & numerical data
  • Substance-Related Disorders / epidemiology
  • Substance-Related Disorders / ethnology
  • Substance-Related Disorders / etiology
  • Tobacco Use Disorder / epidemiology
  • Tobacco Use Disorder / ethnology
  • Tobacco Use Disorder / etiology
  • Tobacco Use* / epidemiology
  • Tobacco Use* / ethnology

Supplementary concepts

  • Afro-Caribbean people