Racial discrimination and substance use among African American youth: Personal and collective self-esteem as mechanisms.

Little is known about the mechanisms of the relationship between racial discrimination and substance use among Black youth. The current study examined the role of collective self-esteem and personal self-esteem in this relationship among Black adolescents in grades 5 through 12 (N = 1514; 57% female). Regression analyses estimated direct effects of perceived racial discrimination on substance use and indirect effects of discrimination on substance use through personal and collective self-esteem. Controlling for grade and sex, results revealed significant indirect effects such that experiences of discrimination were positively associated with substance use through lower reports of collective and personal self-esteem. Findings suggest that bolstering personal and race-related esteem may mitigate the deleterious influence of discrimination among Black youth.

Differential typologies of current substance use among Black and White high-school adolescents: A latent class analysis.

Black and White adolescents demonstrate different prototypical profiles (i.e., typologies) of substance use, with Blacks demonstrating lower risk for concurrent use of two or more substances. Despite knowledge of these differences, typologies of adolescent substance use identified by person-centered methods, such as latent class analysis, have not characterized profiles by racial group. The current study examined typologies of substance use among Black and White youth separately using person-centered methods to identify common patterns of substance use among subjects. Data were drawn from a 5-year parent study examining adolescent health outcomes. The current study examined high-school aged White (n = 7271, 45.4% male) and Black youth (n = 1301, 40.1% male) who reported past-30-day frequency of cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, inhalant, and other drug use. Latent class analysis was used to examine substance use typologies among each group adjusting for grade and sex. Black and White youth demonstrated different typologies such that four typologies emerged among Blacks: Non-Use (87.8%), Alcohol and Marijuana Use (6.3%), Alcohol, Marijuana, and Cigarette Use (3.8%), and Frequent Polysubstance Use (2.0%). Conversely, five typologies emerged among Whites: Non-Use (73.4%), Predominant Alcohol Use (13.9%), Alcohol, Marijuana, and Cigarette Use (9.4%), Moderate Polysubstance Use (1.6%), and Frequent Polysubstance Use (1.7%). Findings suggest that Black and White youth engage in similar rates of concurrent substance use. Given that Black youth face greater risk for adverse consequences from substance use, prevention efforts are needed to prevent related health disparities related to concurrent substance use.