Concrete Jungle: Conceptualizing the Correlation between Urban Stress and Alcohol and Substance Abuse among African-American Men

Substance use is prevalent among African-American men living in urban communities. The impact of substance use on the social, psychological, and physical health of African-American men has important public health implications for families, communities, and society. Given the adverse consequences of alcohol and drug abuse within communities of color, we evaluated the relationship between urban stress, alcohol consumption, and drug use among African American men.

Eighty heterosexual, African-American men, 18 to 29 years old, were recruited from barbershops and recreational venues throughout metropolitan Atlanta. Participants completed an ACASI that assessed urban stress and psychosocial risk assessments of alcohol and other drug use.

Multiple logistic regression analyses, controlling for age, indicated that participants reporting high levels of urban stress, relative to low levels of urban stress, were more likely to report being unable to remember what happened the night before due to drinking (AOR= 4.98, p= .01), a history of marijuana use (AOR= 5.19, p=.05), history of ecstasy or GHB use (AOR= 3.34, p= .04), and having family/friends expressing strong concerns about their illegal drug use over the past 3 months (AOR= 4.06, p= .02).

Alcohol and drug use significantly differ among African American men with high levels of urban stress in comparison to those with low levels of urban stress. African American men living within the confines of a stressful urban environment are at increased risk for a diverse array of substance use and abuse. Culturally competent public health interventions for substance use/abuse should address psychological factors, such as stress.