Neighborhood context and substance use disorders: a comparative analysis of racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
BACKGROUND
There is evidence that ethnic/racial minorities are conferred differential risk for substance use problems based on where they live. Despite a burgeoning of research focusing on the role of neighborhood characteristics on health, limited findings are available on substance use. Our study uses nationally representative data (N=13,837) to examine: (1) what neighborhood characteristics are associated with risk of substance use disorders?; (2) do the associations between neighborhood characteristics and substance use disorders remain after adjusting for individual-level factors?; and (3) do neighborhood characteristics associated with substance use disorders differ by race/ethnicity after adjusting for individual-level factors?


METHODS
Data were drawn from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES-Geocode file) with 836 census tracts. Analyses included African Americans, Asians, Caribbean Blacks, Latinos, and non-Latino whites. Separate logistic regression models were fitted for any past-year substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and drug use disorder.


RESULTS
Living in more affluent and residentially unstable census tracts was associated with decreased risk of past-year substance use disorder, even after adjusting for individual-level factors. However, when we investigated the interaction of race/ethnicity and census latent factors with past-year substance use disorders, we found different associations for the different racial/ethnic groups. We also found different associations between neighborhood affluence, residential instability and any past-year substance use and alcohol disorders by nativity.


CONCLUSIONS
Characteristics of the environment might represent differential risk for substance disorders depending on a person's ethnicity/race and nativity status.
Behavioral Medicine Research Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, United States. kmolina@psy.miami.edu
Kristine M
KM
Molina
Margarita
M
Alegría
Chih-Nan
CN
Chen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult