African American adolescent substance use: The roles of racial discrimination and peer pressure

Oct 24, 2019Addictive behaviors

How racial discrimination and peer pressure relate to substance use in African American teenagers

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Abstract

In a study involving 610 adolescents, experiences of school-based racial discrimination were linked to higher alcohol use by 11th grade.

Teacher- and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination experiences were associated with increased alcohol use among adolescents.
Eighth-grade peer pressure to use drugs moderated the relationship between racial discrimination and 11th-grade marijuana use.
No differences in outcomes based on gender were observed.
The findings suggest that both racial discrimination and peer pressure may contribute to substance use in African American adolescents.

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Peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent substance use. In addition to this normative adolescent stressor, African American adolescents often also face race-related stress in the form of racial discrimination, which has been linked to maladaptive coping responses such as substance use. The interaction of these stressors may help explain substance using behaviors for African American adolescents. The present study explored the relationship between eighth-grade school-based racial discrimination experiences, peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol, and gender to predict 11th-grade marijuana and alcohol use (N = 610; 49% female). Logistic regression analyses indicated teacher- and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination experiences were related to higher alcohol use. Eighth-grade peer pressure to use drugs moderated the relations between teacher- and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination and 11th-grade marijuana use. Overall, results indicate that school-based racial discrimination increases risk for adolescent substance use, and peer pressure moderates this relation for multiple types of racial discrimination. No moderation by gender was found. The importance of considering race-related stress in conjunction with more general adolescent stress to understand African American adolescent substance use is discussed.

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African American adolescent substance use: The roles of racial discrimination and peer pressure

Abstract

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