Use of illegal drugs among mothers across racial/ethnic groups in the United States: a multi-level analysis of individual and community level influences.
Ethn Dis
; 11(4): 614-25, 2001.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11763286
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To obtain adjusted one-year prevalence estimates and compare multi-level correlates of marijuana, cocaine, crack, or heroin use among 4,678 mothers of minor children in the United States across racial/ethnic populations.METHODS:
The study used publicly available data from the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) procedures were used to test drug use variation among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic mothers across US neighborhoods.RESULTS:
Black mothers were 40% less likely to use illegal drugs than were White mothers, and Hispanic mothers were 72% less likely than were White mothers to use drugs, after adjusting for demographic and community covariates. Drug use was found to vary across neighborhoods for all racial/ethnic groups. This study identified a positive association between the likelihood of mothers using illegal drugs and their living in neighborhoods with a higher occurrence of drug use.CONCLUSION:
To compare drug use across racial/ethnic groups, it is necessary to account for the confounding effects of covariates. Additional research is needed to determine whether non-drug using mothers chose to live in neighborhoods with a lower concentration of drug use, whether residence in these neighborhoods decreases the likelihood of mothers using drugs, or if a reciprocal relationship exists. The mechanisms that link individual drug use and neighborhood characteristics merit further investigation.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ethnicity
/
Illicit Drugs
/
Residence Characteristics
/
Substance-Related Disorders
/
Individuality
/
Minority Groups
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspects:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Ethn Dis
Journal subject:
CIENCIAS SOCIAIS
/
SAUDE PUBLICA
Year:
2001
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Estados Unidos