Social integration in young adulthood and the subsequent onset of substance use and disorders among a community population of urban African Americans.
OBJECTIVE
This paper examines the association between social integration in young adulthood and the later onset of substance use and disorders through mid-adulthood. Design Data come from a community cohort of African Americans followed longitudinally from age 6-42 years with four assessment periods.


METHODS
The cohort all lived in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago in 1966, an urban disadvantaged setting.


METHODS
All Woodlawn first graders in 1966 were asked to participate; 13 families declined (n = 1242).


METHODS
Substance use was measured via interview at age 42 and includes the onset of alcohol and drug use disorders and the onset of cocaine/heroin use between ages 32 and 42 years. Social integration measures were assessed via interview at age 32 and include social roles (employee, spouse, parent), participation in religious and social organizations and a measure of overall social integration. Control variables were measured in childhood and later in the life course.


RESULTS
Multivariate regression analyses suggest that unemployment, being unmarried, infrequent religious service attendance and lower overall social integration in young adulthood predict later adult-onset drug use disorders, but not alcohol use disorders once confounders are taken into consideration. Unemployment and lower overall social integration predict onset of cocaine/heroin use later in adulthood.


CONCLUSIONS
Results show meaningful onset of drug use and substance use disorders during mid-adulthood and that social integration in young adulthood seems to play a role in later onset of drug use and drug disorders, but not alcohol disorders.
Green
Kerry M
KM
Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA. greenkm@umd.edu
Doherty
Elaine E
EE
Reisinger
Heather S
HS
Chilcoat
Howard D
HD
Ensminger
Margaret
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
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