title: Perceived cannabis use norms and cannabis use among adolescents in the United States.
abstract: Due to changes in cannabis policies, concerns about cannabis use (CU) in adolescents have increased. The population of nonwhite groups is growing quickly in the United States. We examined perceived CU norms and their association with CU and CU disorder (CUD) for White, Black, Hispanic, Native-American, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI), and mixed-race adolescents. Data were from adolescents (12-17 years) in the 2004-2012 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (N = 163,837). Substance use and CUD were assessed by computer-assisted, self-interviewing methods. Blacks, Hispanics, Native-Americans, and mixed-race adolescents had greater odds of past-year CU and CUD than Whites. Among past-year cannabis users (CUs), Hispanics and Native-Americans had greater odds of having a CUD than Whites. Asian-Americans had the highest prevalence of perceived parental or close friends' CU disapproval. Native-Americans and mixed-race adolescents had lower odds than Whites of perceiving CU disapproval from parents or close friends. In adjusted analyses, adolescent's disapproval of CU, as well as perceived disapproval by parents or close friends, were associated with a decreased odds of CU in each racial/ethnic group, except for NHs/PIs. Adolescent's disapproval of CU was associated with a decreased odds of CUD among CUs for Whites (personal, parental, and close friends' disapproval), Hispanics (personal, parental, and close friends' disapproval), and mixed-race adolescents (personal, close friends' disapproval). Racial/ethnic differences in adolescent CU prevalence were somewhat consistent with adolescents' reports of CU norm patterns. Longitudinal research on CU health effects should oversample nonwhite adolescents to assure an adequate sample for analysis and reporting.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. Electronic address: litzy.wu@duke.edu.
authors: Li-Tzy
authors: LT
authors: Wu
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Marvin S
authors: MS
authors: Swartz
authors: South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors: Kathleen T
authors: KT
authors: Brady
authors: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Rick H
authors: RH
authors: Hoyle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Asian-Americans; Blacks; Cannabis use disorder; Hispanics; Marijuana use; Mixed-race; Native Hawaiians; Native-Americans; Pacific Islanders