141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

276477
Racial discrimination and substance use disorder among a nationally representative sample of women

Monday, November 4, 2013

Sarah J. Cousins, MPH , Intergrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Substance use increases risk for high blood pressure, heart problems, sexually transmitted diseases, automobile injuries, disability, death, crime, domestic violence, and lost workplace productivity. There is growing evidence of the association between discrimination on health; however, gaps in the literature remain. Studies are often geographically restricted and have limited generalizability. The purpose of the current study is to examine if racial discrimination is associated with increased substance use disorder among African American women. A cross-sectional study was conducted on the association between discrimination and substance use among a nationally representative sample of African American women. Analysis accounted for the complex multistage clustered design of the sample, unequal probabilities of selection, nonresponse, and poststratification using STATA. Findings indicate that the prevalence of lifetime alcohol abuse and dependency (but not drug abuse or dependency) was significantly higher among women reporting racial discrimination compared to other types of discrimination or no discrimination (p<.01). Preliminary multivariate analysis suggests a trend between the frequency of racial discrimination events and increased likelihood of lifetime alcohol abuse and dependency. However, lifetime arrests significantly increased the odds of substance use disorders.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related research

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

Keywords: Women, Social Inequalities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Using the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), the author conducted a cross-sectional study on the association between discrimination and substance use disorder among this nationally representative sample of African Americans women. I am qualified to conduct this research given my 7 years of experience in substance use disorder research and academic training in public health.
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.

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