title: Young African American perceptions of substance use in rural eastern Arkansas communities.
abstract: This study examined barriers to substance abuse treatment through focus group interviews of African American youth in three rural, eastern Arkansas counties in the Mississippi Delta region. Participants in the study included adolescents with a current or prior history of substance use, non-substance using adolescents acquainted with other substance users, and adolescents who initiated substance use during adolescence (N = 41). Grand tour and subsequent probe questions elicited multiple themes regarding rural adolescent substance use, treatment decisions, and preferences. Adolescents' perceptions of substance use indicate that treatment or prevention programs will need to address multiple dimensions, ranging from individual to community-wide factors.
authors.affiliation: University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA. lbtolliver@ualr.edu
authors.forename: Laverne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bell-Tolliver
authors.forename: Teresa L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Jeon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Small
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001131:Arkansas / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D012424:Rural Population; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D055815:Young Adult