This proposal requests support for a series of analyses investigating patterns, etiology, and consequences of drug use among minority youth. The research examines adolescent minority drug use from a variety of theoretical perspectives as part of the transition to adulthood. The analyses will use data from 4 major studies that have been funded by NIDA during the past 15 years: the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (1971-1985); the panel Young Men and Drug study ((1974, 1982, 1985); the Monitoring the Future surveys of high school seniors (1976-1985); and the Drug Abuse and Other Deviant Adaptations to Stress panel study in Houston (1971-1986). The objectives of the research are: 1. Provide more complete and extensive descriptive information than previously available on drug use among minority youth, including estimates for Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics of different national origins. Current estimates of drug use will come from 1985 data, and patterns over the last decade will be examined using repeated cross-sections. 2. For Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, test hypotheses on the etiology of drug use and explanations for differences by race/ethnicity. Effects of sex, SES, age, and a variety of social and psychological indicators are included as intervening variables in the proposed models with a particular focus on transition to adulthood. 3. Test hypotheses about the consequences of drug use (social, psychological, economic, health) across racial and ethnic groups. Analyses will consider the relation between drug use and life events in establishing cause and consequence sequence in the transition to adulthood. A variety of methodological approaches will be employed in data reduction, developing stable indicators, and testing models. Factor analysis, regression, logit, structural models, simple time series, and modified event history analysis will be used at various stages. Resulting data on prevalence and trends in drug use among minority youth will be important in planning of prevention and intervention strategies. Also, testing etiological models from a variety of perspectives will provide relevant information more specific to future prevention and intervention programs designed to reduce drug use and to improve the physical and mental health of minority youth.
| Robbins, C A; Martin, S S (1993) Gender, styles of deviance, and drinking problems. J Health Soc Behav 34:302-21 |
| Robbins, C (1989) Sex differences in psychosocial consequences of alcohol and drug abuse. J Health Soc Behav 30:117-30 |
