Drug Abuse, Criminal Justice System Involvement & Health Disparities in Youth

描述（由申请人提供）：当前的应用程序是我们的应用程序响应计划公告PA-07-114的第二次修订。我们拟议的研究将审查药物滥用，青少年/刑事司法系统的参与和青年的健康差距，重点是非洲裔美国人和白色青年之间的比较。非裔美国人约占美国人口的12%，但在2004年，他们几乎占监狱人口的一半。近几十年来，因毒品犯罪而被捕的人数增加，占非洲裔美国囚犯人数增长的近三分之一。然而，全国社区调查的结果表明，非裔美国人的药物使用和滥用率与白人相似。此外，研究表明，非洲裔美国人不太可能接受与药物使用有关的问题的适当治疗。有必要了解与少年/刑事司法系统的参与、药物使用和获得药物使用相关问题的治疗有关的种族/民族差异。拟议的项目利用了来自三项全国性青年调查的数据：（1）一个大型社区样本，其中包含有关刑事司法系统参与历史、药物使用/滥用/依赖和药物治疗服务使用情况的信息;（2）对青少年进行纵向（7年）调查，内容包括物质使用、犯罪行为、青少年/刑事司法系统参与情况和个人风险因素，家庭和社区层面;以及（3）在少年司法设施中安置的具有全国代表性的大量青年样本。研究目的：（1）审查青少年参与少年/刑事司法系统的比率，特别是在使用或滥用/依赖药物的青少年中，比较非裔美国人和白色青年，并确定可能部分解释这两个群体之间差异的因素;（2）利用纵向数据，审查药物使用与少年/刑事司法参与之间关系的种族/民族差异，包括药物使用在青少年到青年期参与刑事司法途径中的作用，以及刑事/少年司法系统的参与对药物使用模式随后变化的影响;和（3）检查非裔美国人和白色青少年/青少年精神障碍患者因药物使用相关问题而接受的治疗类型的差异。刑事司法系统的参与，并确定非洲裔美国青年在少年司法系统的参与下所面临的使用治疗服务的障碍。公共卫生相关性：鉴于非裔美国青年在青少年和成年被捕者和囚犯/被拘留者中所占比例过高，特别是毒品犯罪，而且刑事/青少年司法系统所涉人员的药物使用相关问题的治疗服务往往缺乏或不足，因此非常需要了解与青少年/刑事司法系统参与有关的种族/族裔差异，物质使用和获得与物质使用有关的问题的治疗。拟议的研究将审查这些种族/民族的差异，在物质使用和青少年/刑事司法系统的参与之间的动态纵向关系，并在获得治疗服务的物质使用相关的问题，从公共卫生的角度来看。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current application is the second revision of our application responding to Program Announcement PA-07-114. Our proposed study will examine substance abuse, juvenile/criminal justice system involvement and health disparities in youth, focusing on comparisons between African American and White youth. African Americans comprise about 12% of the US population, but they represented almost half of the prison population in 2004. Increases in arrests for drug offenses have accounted for nearly one third of the growth of the African American inmate population in recent decades. However, findings from national community surveys have shown that rates of substance use and abuse in African Americans are similar to those of Whites. Also, studies have shown that African Americans are less likely to receive adequate treatment for substance use related problems. There is a need to understand racial/ethnic disparities related to juvenile/criminal justice system involvement, substance use and access to treatment for substance use related problems. The proposed project utilizes data from three nationally representative surveys of youth: (1) a large community sample with information on criminal justice system involvement histories, substance use/abuse/dependence, and use of substance treatment services; (2) a longitudinal (7-year) survey of youth covering substance use, delinquent behaviors, juvenile/criminal justice system involvement and risk factors at the individual, family and community levels; and (3) a large, nationally representative sample of youth in placement in Juvenile Justice facilities. Study aims: (1) To examine rates of Juvenile/Criminal Justice System involvement among youth, especially among those with substance use or abuse/dependence, comparing African American and White youth, and identifying factors which may partially explain the differences between the two groups; (2) Using longitudinal data, to examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between substance use and juvenile/criminal justice involvement, including the role of substance use in pathways to criminal justice involvement from adolescence to young adulthood, as well as the impact of criminal/juvenile justice system involvement on subsequent changes in patterns of substance use; and (3) To examine differences in the types of treatment received for substance use related problems by African-American and White youth with juvenile/criminal justice system involvement, and identify barriers to use of treatment services faced by African-American youth with juvenile justice system involvement. Public Health Relevance: Given that African American youth are disproportionately represented among juvenile and adult arrestees and prisoners/detainees, especially for drug offenses, and that treatment services for substance use related problems for people involved in the criminal/juvenile justice system tend to be lacking or inadequate, there is a great need to understand the racial/ethnic disparities related to juvenile/criminal justice system involvement, substance use and access to treatment for substance use related problems. The proposed study will examine these racial/ethnic disparities in terms of the dynamic longitudinal relationship between substance use and juvenile/criminal justice system involvement, and in terms of access to treatment services for substance use related problems, from a public health perspective.