The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #46583

Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, PhD¹, Ya-Jiun Tsai, MPH¹, Angel Johnson, BS¹, and Tom Edwards, MS². (1) Research and Evaluation Division, The MayaTech Corporation, 8737 Colesville Road, 7th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-587-1600, kjleonard@mayatech.com, (2) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockwall II Building, Suite 740, Rockville, MD 20857

The investigation of alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) use among young adults has been the focus of several studies over the past decade. In the midst of expanded research, however, there is little documentation on trends in substance use among African American college students. When African Americans enter young adulthood, their risk of substance abuse and substance-related problems increase substantially from that of African American adolescents. The revised HBCU Substance Use Survey is focused on uncovering trends in substance use and related problems on HBCU campuses through its new longitudinal design.

During the 1998/1999 and 1999/2000, school years a two phase pilot study was conducted at 39 HBCUs. Results from the anonymous self-report pilot survey revealed that attending college had an effect on drinking behavior. Gender patterns also emerged in relation to access to ATOD. In addition, attitudes regarding use varied between alcohol and tobacco and other drugs. The current presentation will make methodological comparisons between the pilot study and the first wave (N=8000) of three planned waves of survey data from freshman attending the sample of HBCUs used for the pilot. Results will examine the relationships between individual level and contextual level variables in their ability to predict ATOD use in the 2002 data as compared with data from the pilot. These results will begin to fill the "black box" in knowledge on the etiology of ATOD use among an in-school population of African American young adults.

Learning Objectives:

• The participants of this session will learn about the etiology of ATOD use behaviors among African American young adults.
• Participants will be able to identify intrapersonal as well as environmental variables that explain the variance in ATOD use within this population.
• Furthermore, participants will be intorduced to ATOD use patterns at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Keywords: African American, Chemical Dependence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Historically Black Colleges and Universities
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.