Examining the attitudes and behaviors of African American adolescents towards substance use: A Midwest sample

A cry for social justice is needed particularly around substance use in the African American community. African Americans continue to be incarcerated rather than receive treatment. Thus prevention programs are needed to address this issue. Previous research has examined the role of perceived risks of drugs and drug use. However examination of the attitudes toward drugs and drug use behavior among African American adolescents is warranted. A convenient sample of 448 African American adolescents aged 12-17 from the Midwest was used. Questions from the Government Performance and Results Act were correlated with self-reported drug use. Results showed statistical significance that being committed to a drug free lifestyle was negatively correlated with smoking cigarettes (r=-.25), using alcohol (r=-.20) and smoking marijuana (r=-39%). The data suggests that reporting a drug free lifestyle was associated with not ever using substances. African American females were more committed to a drug free lifestyle than males, 64% and 48% respectively. Forty-one percent of African American males reported having had smoked a cigarette compared to 37% of females. There was a discrepancy between making a decision to stay away from marijuana for females and their reported use of marijuana. Seventy percent of African American females reported making a decision to stay away from marijuana compared to 59% of males. Thirty percent of females reported use of marijuana compared to 27% of males. The results suggest reinforcing negative attitudes about substances may reduce substance use for males however not for African American females, other factors need exploration.