Campus Units
Psychology, Human Development and Family Studies
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Accepted Manuscript
Publication Date
Fall 2007
Journal or Book Title
Journal of Rural Health
Volume
23
Issue
s1
First Page
22
Last Page
28
DOI
10.1111/j.1748-0361.2007.00120.x
Abstract
Purpose: To examine substance use differences among African‐American adolescents living in rural and more urban areas in Iowa and Georgia and factors thought to be related to those differences. Specifically, negative affect and perceived availability were examined as mediators of the relation between community size and alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. Methods: In‐home interviews with the adolescents (Time 1: N = 897, Mean age = 10.5) assessed their use, perceived substance availability, and negative affect across 3 waves. Their parents’ use was also assessed. Census data were used to determine community size (rural ≤ 2,500; urban ≥ 2,500). Findings: Perceived substance availability and use were both higher among the more urban adolescents. As expected, negative affect was a primary antecedent to use at each wave. Structural Equation Modeling indicated that the relation between population and use was mediated by perceived availability of the substances. Additional multigroup analyses indicated that the relations between negative affect and use were significantly stronger among the urban adolescents at all waves. Conclusions: Results suggest that stress or negative affect is an important antecedent to use among African‐American adolescents, especially when it occurs at an early age, but living in rural areas may be a buffer for both problems, in part, because exposure to this type of risk is lower in these environments.
Copyright Owner
National Rural Health Association
Copyright Date
2007
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Gibbons, Frederick X.; Reimer, Rachel A.; Gerrard, Meg; Yeh, Hsiu-Chen; Houlihan, Amy E.; Cutrona, Carolyn; Simons, Ron; and Brody, Gene, "Rural-urban differences in substance use among African-American adolescents" (2007). Psychology Publications. 113.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/psychology_pubs/113
Comments
This is the peer-reviewed version of the following article: Gibbons, Frederick X., Rachel A. Reimer, Meg Gerrard, Hsiu‐Chen Yeh, Amy E. Houlihan, Carolyn Cutrona, Ron Simons, and Gene Brody. "Rural‐urban differences in substance use among African‐American adolescents." The Journal of Rural Health 23 (2007): 22-28., which has been published in final form at DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-0361.2007.00120.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. Posted with permission.