title: Coping with racial discrimination: the role of substance use.
abstract: Three studies tested the hypothesis that the relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use reported in previous research is moderated by use of substances as a coping mechanism. Studies 1 and 2 were experimental studies of African American adolescents' and young adults' reactions to a discrimination experience. Results revealed that those who endorsed substance use-as-coping reported more willingness to use substances after experiencing discrimination. Study 3 was a prospective study of the relation between perceived discrimination and substance use over an 8-year period in African American adolescents. Results demonstrated that discrimination is associated with increases in substance use, but only among adolescents who endorse substance use-as-coping. Together, these three studies provide evidence that experiencing discrimination has both short- and long-term detrimental effects on African Americans' substance use, but significantly more so for those who adopt a pattern of using substances as a coping mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA. meg.gerrard@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: Meg
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerrard
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Frederick X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Ross E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.forename: Chih-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wills
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015984:Causality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011582:Psychological Theory; D063505:Racism; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012933:Social Identification; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs