Trajectory classes of cannabis use and heavy drinking among rural African American adolescents: multi‐level predictors of class membership

• Published in: Addiction (Abingdon, England) Vol. 113; no. 8; pp. 1439 - 1449
• Main Authors: Barton, Allen W., Brody, Gene H., Zapolski, Tamika C. B., Goings, Trenette C., Kogan, Steven M., Windle, Michael, Yu, Tianyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2018
• Subjects: Academic Performance - psychology; Academic Performance - statistics & numerical data; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adrenaline; Adult; African American; African Americans; African Americans - psychology; African Americans - statistics & numerical data; Age; Binge Drinking - epidemiology; Binge Drinking - psychology; Biological markers; Cannabis; Catecholamines; Central nervous system; Child development; Design factors; Drinking; Drinking behavior; Drug abuse; Drug addiction; Drug use; Epinephrine; Epinephrine - urine; Etiology; Female; Friends; heavy drinking; Hormones; Humans; Latent Class Analysis; latent class growth modeling; Life stress; Male; Marijuana; Marijuana Use - epidemiology; Marijuana Use - psychology; Membership; Nervous system; Norepinephrine; Norepinephrine - urine; Parent-Child Relations; Prospective Studies; Psychosocial factors; Racism - psychology; Racism - statistics & numerical data; Risk assessment; Risk Factors; Risk perception; Rural areas; Rural communities; Rural Population; Social interactions; Southeastern United States - epidemiology; Stress; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Stress, Psychological - urine; Substance abuse; Substance use; Sympathetic nervous system; Teenagers; Trajectory analysis; Underage Drinking - psychology; Underage Drinking - statistics & numerical data; Urine; Variability; Young Adult; Young adults; Youth; Southeastern United States; cannabis; heavy drinking; stress; risk factors; latent class growth modeling; African American
• ISSN: 0965-2140; 1360-0443
• DOI: 10.1111/add.14200

Aims To inform research on the etiology and prevention of substance use among rural African American youth by (a) identifying developmental trajectory classes of cannabis use and heavy drinking across adolescence and young adulthood and (b) examining associations between trajectory class membership and multi‐level assessments of risk factors. Design A prospective study spanning 9 years with assessments of cannabis use and heavy drinking, the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine, perceived stress and psychosocial risk factors. Setting Rural communities in the southeastern United States. Participants African American youth (n = 518). Measurements Participants were assessed for cannabis use and heavy drinking at seven assessments beginning at 16 years of age and continuing to 25 years of age. At age 19, participants provided overnight urine voids that were assayed for catecholamines, a biological marker of life stress resulting from sympathetic nervous system activation. At ages 16 and 19, participants provided information on malleable psychosocial risk factors. Findings Latent class growth models revealed three distinct trajectory classes for cannabis use and for heavy drinking. Higher levels of circulating stress hormones and perceived stress were associated with classes reporting greater substance use over time (all Ps < 0.05). A composite of selected risk factors discriminated class membership (all Ps < 0.05). Trajectory classes characterized by rapid usage increases in early adulthood exhibited the greatest increase in deviant peer affiliations between ages 16 and 19 years. Conclusions Rural African American youth's cannabis use and heavy drinking across adolescence and young adulthood demonstrate distinct developmental courses; a small number of risk factors and measures of biological and perceived stress differentiate class membership prognostically. Variability over time in these measures, specifically an increase in deviant peer affiliation, may help to account for steep increases in young adulthood.