The intersection of neighborhood and race in urban adolescent health risk behaviors.

AIMS: Racial variability in associations of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and neighborhood disorder with adolescent health risk behaviors remains under-researched, which this study examined over 1 year among racially diverse adolescents. METHODS: High school students (N = 345; 18% Asian, 44% Black, 16% Multiracial, 22% White) completed surveys assessing neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and neighborhood disorder, and health risk behaviors (lifetime alcohol, cannabis, and cigarette use, number of sexual partners) at baseline (Year 1) and 1-year follow-up (Year 2). RESULTS: Asian, Black, and Multiracial adolescents were more likely to endorse health risk behaviors in Year 2 compared to White adolescents living in similarly disadvantaged neighborhoods at Year 1. Associations of neighborhood disorder with health risk behavior did not differ by race. CONCLUSION: Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage (but not neighborhood disorder) may predispose Asian, Black, and Multiracial adolescents to health risk behaviors. Findings may inform interventions to address racial disparities in adolescent health risk behaviors.

Cannabis use for sleep aid among high school students: Concurrent and prospective associations with substance use and sleep problems.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents are at risk for both sleep problems and cannabis use. Despite emerging evidence for college students' self-medication with cannabis to help sleep, generalizability to earlier developmental stages remains unknown. This study remedied this literature gap by characterizing high school students' cannabis sleep aid use in terms of psychosocial correlates and prospective associations with substance use and sleep. METHODS: Data were drawn froma longitudinal urban adolescent health behavior study, Project Teen, including 4079th-11thgraders(Year 1 Mage = 16.00 [SD = 1.08, range = 13-19]; 58% female; 41% Black, 22% White, 18% Asian, 17% multiracial,2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 1% American Indian or Alaska Native; 12% Hispanic/Latinx). Students completed two web-based surveys (Minterval = 388.89 days [SD = 27.34]) assessingsubstance use and sleep at Year 1 (Y1) and Year 2 (Y2). RESULTS: Students reporting lifetime cannabis sleep aid use (8%) endorsed greater depression and anxiety symptoms at Y1, as well as greater cannabis, alcohol, and cigarette use (but not insomnia symptoms or sleep durations) at Y1 and Y2, compared to non-using peers. Over one year, cannabis sleep aid use was associated with increased cannabis dependence symptoms among students using cannabis, past-2-week binge drinking among students using alcohol, and lifetime cigarette use. However, cannabis sleep aid use was not prospectively associated with changes in insomnia symptoms or sleep durations. CONCLUSIONS: Although replication is needed, cannabis sleep aid use among high school students may be associated with exacerbated cannabis dependence symptoms and increased binge drinking and cigarette use over time, without the intended sleep benefit.

Prescription Stimulant Misuse and Risk Correlates among Racially-Diverse Urban Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Most research on prescription stimulant misuse has focused on college students, and research on high school-aged adolescents is limited. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to characterize risk correlates of prescription stimulant misuse among a racially-diverse and socioeconomically-disadvantaged sample of urban adolescents. METHOD: Cross-sectional data were drawn from an ongoing study of adolescent health behaviors, Project Teen. Participants were 414 9th to 11th graders (Mage=16.00 [SD = 1.08]; 57% female; 41% Black or African American, 22% White, 18% Asian, 17% Multiracial, 2% Pacific Islander, and 1% Native American; 12% Hispanic/Latinx). Participants completed a web-based survey assessing prescription stimulant misuse, demographics, mental health and personality, social environment, and substance use. RESULTS: Eight percent of participants endorsed past-year prescription stimulant misuse. Compared to non-misusing peers, participants endorsing past-year prescription stimulant misuse reported greater depression/anxiety symptoms, sensation seeking, perceived peer risk behavior, and alcohol and cigarette use, as well as a lower level of parental monitoring; null group differences were observed for academic goal orientation, perceived peer approval of risk behavior, and cannabis use. Binary logistic regression demonstrated that binge drinking and cigarette use were significantly associated with prescription stimulant misuse over and above all other identified risk variables. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent prescription stimulant misuse appears to overlap with general adolescent substance use, sharing several known risk correlates. Results highlight potential targets for identification of emerging prescription stimulant misuse risk profiles at earlier stages of development. Longitudinal replication is needed to examine directional associations and risk mechanisms underlying adolescent prescription stimulant misuse.