Prevalence and correlates of substance use among biracial and monoracial adolescents

Abstract

Decades of research demonstrate that Biracial adolescents report high levels of substance use and misuse. However, relatively little is known about whether predictors of substance use differentially impact Biracial youth compared to their monoracial peers. To examine the interactions between common substance use predictors (i.e., peer substance use, family structure) and racialized identity, we integrated data from the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and Monitoring the Future. The final analytic sample included 47,491 participants. Of these, 51.3% were female and all racialized subgroups had over 250 participants. We used chi-square tests to evaluate differential prevalence rates between Biracial and monoracial subgroups and logistic regressions to examine the main effects and interactions of predictors of substance use. The results partially support our hypothesis that Biracial youth report a prevalence of substance use intermediate to that of their corresponding monoracial groups, but this varied by substance and racialized group. Additionally, we found that having a mother and father in the household and peer substance use were significant predictors of substance use across all racialized groups. Peer substance use had a stronger effect for some racialized groups (e.g., White, Indigenous-White) compared to others (e.g., Black, Asian). Our findings demonstrate the importance of analyzing Biracial subgroups as distinct groups due to their heterogeneity in substance use prevalence rates and predictors of substance use. Tailored prevention efforts (either peer or family-focused) may be needed to address the unique influences on substance use for different Biracial subgroups and types of substances.