Perceived racial discrimination and polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents in the United States
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Abstract
Objective: Polysubstance use among adolescents is a significant public health concern, yet most studies on
adolescent substance use focus on a singular substance. This study is one of the first to investigate the association
between perceived racial discrimination (PRD) in school and polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority
adolescents using a nationally representative sample.
Methods: Data was from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey. The sample included 4145
racial/ethnic minority adolescents (52.8% female). Hierarchical binary logistic regression was used to examine
the association between PRD in school and polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents.
Results: About 12% of racial/ethnic minority adolescents engaged in polysubstance use and 23.4% reported
experiencing PRD in school sometimes/most of the time/always. Controlling for other factors, experiencing PRD
in school sometimes/most of the time/always was associated with 1.52 times higher odds of polysubstance use
when compared to adolescents who never experienced PRD in school (OR=1.52, p=.044, 95% CI=1.01–2.30).
Cyberbullying victimization, symptoms of depression, and being emotionally abused by a parent during COVID 19 were also associated with polysubstance use.
Conclusion: Controlling for demographic characteristics and psychosocial stressors, PRD in school was significantly associated with higher odds of polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents. The findings
of this study could inform clinicians and policymakers of the association between PRD in school and polysubstance use, which could contribute to early identification of polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority
adolescents.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Perceived racial discrimination, Polysubstance use, Racial/ethnic minority, Adolescents