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Interaction of SES, Race/Ethnicity and Family Organization (Living Arrangements) of Adolescents, in Relation to Severity of Use of Drugs and Alcohol

NCJ Number
170449
Journal
Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (1997) Pages: 65-74
Author(s)
A S Friedman; A Ali
Date Published
1997
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examines the relationship and severity of drugs and alcohol use to race and family organization.
Abstract
A study of a multi-city sample of adolescent substance abusers (N=487) found that the degree or severity of substance abuse and related problems was less for African-American than for white subjects, except for use of crack and heroin. This confirmation of the findings of earlier research occurred after controlling for differences between white and black subsamples on types of family organization, living arrangements, socioeconomic status (SES), and whether the family was on welfare. SES was not significantly related to degree of substance use/abuse, but there was significantly less substance use/abuse if the family was on welfare. An unexpected finding was that there was no significant difference between the lower SES blacks and the higher SES whites on their reports on the amount of money they spent to obtain alcohol or drugs. There was a trend (p=.09) for those subjects from lower SES families to spend relatively more on drugs, and this relationship was related to the finding that the black subjects reported earning significantly more money (p=.05) from the sale of drugs. References