217329 Examining the attitudes and behaviors of African American adolescents towards substance use: A Midwest sample

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Rhonda Lewis-Moss, PhD,, MPH , Psychology Department, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
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.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Explain the relationship between attitudes and behaviors of African American adolescents and their drug use. Discuss more effective substance use prevention programs that target the discrepancies between the attitudes and actual substance use of African American youth.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator for this research and I am a member of APHA the ATOD section.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.