The substance use system: social and neighborhood environments associated with substance use and misuse.
Substance use theory and practice have traditionally focused on individuals who misuse substances or who are at risk for substance misuse, but this emphasis is shifting. The present study views both substance use and misuse systematically, assessing the relationships between the physical and social environments and substance use and misuse in dynamic interplay. This substance use system was examined through a survey of approximately 10,000 persons, aged 22-44, from primarily inner-city neighborhoods in the United States. Individual indicators such as race, sex, age, socioeconomic status, education, and religious service attendance relate to both the physical and interpersonal environments, even when each is controlled for the others. Qualities of both environments are strongly associated with substance dependency, even after individual indicators are controlled. These findings suggest the difficulty of bringing about change in drug and alcohol use without fundamental change in the environments where use takes place.
City University of New York, New York 10036, USA.
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Kadushin
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Reber
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Saxe
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Livert
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D019352:Censuses; D015897:Comorbidity; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010379:Peer Group; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D012931:Social Environment; D012936:Social Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013598:Systems Theory; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data