How early is early? The sequelae of early initiation of substance use in an inner-city adolescent population

Introduction: Previous studies have indicated that early initiation of substance use is associated with higher levels of use and substance-related problems in late adolescence and adulthood. However, few prospective studies of early adolescent substance use patterns have been conducted with impoverished urban African American community-based samples; yet there is some evidence that early use among this population is particularly high, and that inner-city African American adolescents may be particularly at risk for negative outcomes associated with early substance use.

Purpose: This study considered how substance use in African American youth ages 9-13 affected substance use patterns later in adolescence.

Method: Annual data on alcohol and marijuana use, collected between 1998 and 2005, from the Mobile Youth Survey, an ongoing multiple cohort longitudinal study of 7,095 adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods in Mobile, Alabama were used in the analyses. A linear mixed model analysis was conducted to determine how substance use among youth ages 9-13 affected use during later time periods.

Results: Early initiation of substance use predicted higher levels of use five years later. These findings support previous research in youth ages 12-13 and extend early initiation to include inner-city youth ages 9-11.

Conclusions: A main implication of our findings is that alcohol intervention programs need to target pre- and early adolescent African-American youth living in low income urban neighborhoods in the South. Effective early intervention may reduce the level of use and alcohol-related problems in later adolescence.