272620 Association between Racial Discrimination and Substance Use Disorder among a Nationally Representative Sample of African Americans

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sarah J. Cousins, MPH , Intergrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Substance use poses serious problems for individuals and society. Substance use increases risk for high blood pressure, heart problems, sexually transmitted diseases, automobile injuries, disability, death, crime, domestic violence, and lost workplace productivity. In the stress-coping model on addiction, individuals use drugs or alcohol to relieve stress and feel good. There is growing evidence of the association between discrimination on health; however, gaps in the literature remain. Studies are often geographically restricted, have limited generalizability and sparse use of diagnostic measures. The purpose of the current study is to examine if racial discrimination is associated with increased substance use disorder among African Americans? A cross-sectional study was conducted on the association between discrimination and substance use among a nationally representative sample of African Americans. Analysis accounted for the complex multistage clustered design of the sample, unequal probabilities of selection, nonresponse, and post stratification using STATA. Findings indicate that the prevalence of lifetime alcohol abuse and dependency was significantly higher among those reporting racial discrimination compared to other types of discrimination or no discrimination (p<.01). Lifetime drug abuse/dependency was also significantly higher among those reporting racial discrimination compared to other types of discrimination or no discrimination (p<.05). Preliminary multivariate analyses suggest that the frequency of racial discrimination events was positively associated with an increased likelihood of lifetime alcohol and drug abuse or dependency but is mediated by intragroup closeness. Interventions that incorporate strategies to increase intragroup closeness may reduce risk of substance use disorder among African Americans who experience discrimination.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Epidemiology
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe the relationship between substance use disorder and racial discrimination Identify one mediating factor that influences the relationship between substance use disorder and racial discrimination Discuss one finding and how it could inform interventions to prevent substance use disorder.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: The current research project was conducted solely by the author and to my knowledge it is the first to provide associations of discrimination and DSM–IV substance abuse and dependence diagnoses among a nationally representative sample of the African Americans.I am a MPH student at UCLA and have 7 years of public health experience.
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.