Factors Influencing the Health Behavior of Young African American Adults

该申请旨在为家庭和社区健康研究（FACHS）的继续和扩展提供资金，该研究包括约900个非洲裔美国人家庭。已经收集了四波数据。每一波都包括与目标儿童（目标;第1波时年龄为10/11岁）和目标儿童的主要照顾者（PC）的访谈;以及次要照顾者（SC）和年长的兄弟姐妹（同胞;第1波时年龄为13/14岁）的访谈。第5波和第6波将使目标和兄弟姐妹进入成年期（EA），这一时期已被证明对与药物使用和滥用相关的问题的发展至关重要，也是危险的性行为，包括艾滋病毒风险。基于前四波的分析提供了关于家庭互动、社区背景、种族歧视和性格（例如，气质、自制力）联合收割机影响青少年的健康行为，包括物质使用和性行为。使用原型/意愿模型作为理论基础，我们专注于缓和这些影响的因素（缓冲和风险因素），以及介导它们的认知和倾向。一些先前的研究已经检查了EA期间风险行为的变化，但其中很少有包括可追溯到青春期前的一系列重要措施的优势，在这种情况下，在典型的风险行为发作年龄之前2-3年。这一领域的现有研究很少包括非裔美国人家庭;没有一个还包括重要的背景措施（例如，邻里风险，地理信息系统数据）和其他家庭成员的广泛数据，包括他们的物质使用，风险认知，父母教养方式和性格特征。简而言之，在许多方面，现有的FACHS项目和FACHS样本都是独一无二的。该提案旨在从三个方面扩大FACHS项目：（a）在目标和兄弟姐妹过渡到EA时对其进行跟踪，重点关注影响其药物使用和滥用习惯以及危险性行为的因素;（B）从靶标收集遗传数据，以检查基因在主效应和基因x环境（GxE）方面的影响。他们的健康风险行为的相互作用和相关性，从而使我们能够检查在何种程度上建立主要与白人样本的结果可以用来通知物质使用的讨论和非裔美国人的物质使用障碍（SUD）的发展;以及（c）从目标的最好的朋友和浪漫伴侣（如果他们有）那里收集关于相同风险认知和健康行为（他们自己和目标）的数据。这两个额外的来源将提供有关年轻的非洲裔美国人的危险行为和影响这些行为的社会因素的有用信息。项目叙述 该项目将提供有关环境，社会心理和遗传因素的信息，这些因素会影响非洲裔美国青少年进入成年早期时的物质使用和危险性行为。这些信息将有助于进一步了解艾滋病毒风险和药物滥用的病因，并为制定干预措施提供信息，以减少这些负面健康结果的风险。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks funding for continuation and expansion of the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), which includes approximately 900 African American families. Four waves of data have already been collected. Each wave included interviews with a target child (target; age 10/11 at Wave 1) and the target's primary caregiver (PC); plus a secondary caregiver (SC) and an older sibling (sib; age 13/14 at Wave 1), when they were available. Waves 5 and 6 will take the targets and sibs into a developmental period emerging adulthood (EA) that has been shown to be critical in terms of the development of problems associated with substance use and abuse, and also risky sexual behavior, including HIV risk. Analyses based on the first four waves have provided valuable information regarding the manner in which family interaction, community context, racial discrimination, and disposition (e.g., temperament, self-control) combine to influence the adolescents' health behaviors, including their substance use and sexual behavior. Using the prototype / willingness model as a theoretical base, we have focused on factors that moderate these influences (as buffers and risk factors), and the cognitions and dispositions that mediate them. Some previous studies have examined changes in risk behavior during EA, but few of them have the advantage of also including a significant array of measures dating back to preadolescence, in this case, 2-3 years prior to the typical age of risk behavior onset. Very few existing studies in this area include African American families; none of them also includes significant contextual measures (e.g., neighborhood risk, GIS data) and extensive data from other family members, including their substance use, risk cognitions, parenting styles, and dispositional characteristics. In short, in many ways, the existing FACHS project and the FACHS sample are unique. This proposal is designed to expand the FACHS project in three ways: (a) Follow the targets and sibs as they transition into EA, focusing on factors that influence their substance use and abuse habits and their risky sexual behavior; (b) Collect genetic data from the targets in order to examine the influence of genes in terms of main effects and gene x environment (GxE) interactions and correlations on their health risk behaviors, thereby allowing us to examine the extent to which findings established primarily with Caucasian samples can be used to inform the discussion of substance use and the development of substance use disorders (SUDs) in African Americans; and (c) Collect data from the targets' best friend and romantic partner, if they have one, regarding the same risk cognitions and health behaviors (their own and the target's). These two additional sources will provide useful information about the risk behaviors of young African Americans and the social factors that influence those behaviors.7. PROJECT NARRATIVE This project will provide information about the environmental, psychosocial, and genetic factors that influence the substance use and risky sexual behavior of African American adolescents as they move into early adulthood. This information will be of use in terms of furthering understanding of the etiology of HIV risk and substance abuse, and informing the development of interventions that will reduce the risk of these negative health outcomes.