Alcohol and marijuana use as predictors of risky sexual behaviors among African American adolescents

Despite increasing efforts of substance abuse prevention interventions to reduce adolescent risk behaviors, the prevalence of alcohol and marijuana use and risky sexual behaviors remain high among adolescents. Alcohol and marijuana use is becoming particularly common among youth, and has been characterized as an emerging drug of abuse for highly vulnerable youth. Recent research supports this claim, finding stronger associations between drug use and risky sexual behavior among high risk adolescents. For this study, data were collected from community-based organizations using a common baseline instrument that was administered within 30-days of program entry. Participants were 543 Black/African American adolescents 11 to 18 years old. Utilizing baseline scores, multiple linear regression analyses were used to predict risky sexual behaviors. First, alcohol and marijuana use served as the predictor variables and sexual intercourse in the last 30 days was the criterion. Results indicated that the regression equation with alcohol use was significant, R² = .02, adjusted R² = .02, F (4,538) = 2.89, p=.02. However, marijuana use was not a significant predictor. Second, with the predictor variables, the number of partners in last 3 months served as the criterion. The regression equation with alcohol and marijuana use were both significant, R² = .07, adjusted R² = .07, F (4,513) = 10.30, p=.000, and R² = .09, adjusted R² = .08, F (3,510) = 3.79, p=.01, respectively. These findings have implications for clinicians and program planners who seek to develop interventions targeting high risk African American adolescents.