Longitudinal effects of custody loss on drug use and crime of African American wo

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的总体目标是了解非裔美国母亲在刑事犯罪状态下失去监护权与物质使用和犯罪行为之间的关系。尽管美国各种族群体的吸毒情况相似，但非裔美国人因滥用毒品而不成比例地经历了儿童福利和刑事司法系统的干预。可获得的科学数据非常有限，无法帮助了解失去监护权对妇女随后的药物使用和犯罪的影响。NIDA研究议程的重点是促进研究解决少数群体的健康差距和脆弱性问题。拟议的项目通过研究监护权丧失作为非裔美国妇女药物使用和犯罪行为增加的预测因素来解决这一任务的一个方面。具体而言，该项目的主要目标是确定这一人群失去监护权的风险因素，并评估失去监护权的物质使用和犯罪行为相关后果。由于儿童是母亲社会支持的重要来源，失去这种支持可能会增加对家庭和朋友等其他支持来源的依赖。如果这种支持足够，妇女在失去监护权后增加药物使用和犯罪行为的可能性就会降低。这项研究具有重要意义，因为它有可能确定非裔美国妇女在失去监护权后的物质使用和犯罪行为结果的差异，并揭示吸毒和非吸毒妇女在刑事司法参与的三个层面（每组n=200）之间的差异：监狱、缓刑和社区（没有刑事司法参与）。用于分析的数据将来自“非裔美国女性吸毒者：艾滋病毒、健康差异和犯罪”研究（也称为“B-WISE”；NIDA R01-DA22967）的第1-3波，这是一项正在进行的对600名非裔美国妇女的纵向研究。所有女性在基线以及初次访谈后的6个月和12个月接受了访谈。本研究的具体目的是：(1)描述失去孩子监护权的非裔美国妇女的特征，与没有失去孩子监护权的妇女相比；(2)在12个月的研究时间框架内，考察监护权丧失对个人层面因素（刑事司法和吸毒状况）与药物使用和犯罪行为变化之间关系的中介作用；(3)确定儿童特征、失去监护权事件和对社会支持的感知是否是失去监护权后物质使用和犯罪行为变化的重要预测因素。运用多项logistic回归估计社会支持、刑事司法状况、儿童性格特征、失监护权事件特征等因素对失监护权后吸毒和犯罪变化的影响。本研究的重要意义包括为刑事司法系统和儿童福利系统政策提供预防、干预和治疗非裔美国母亲药物使用者的数据。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the present study is to understand how custody loss is related to substance use and criminal behavior among African American women who are mothers across criminal offender status. While drug use is similar across racial groups in the US, African Americans disproportionately experience child welfare and criminal justice system involvement as a result of drug misuse. Very limited scientific data is available to help understand the effect of custody loss on a woman's subsequent substance use and crime. Prominent on NIDA's research agenda is the promotion of research addressing health disparities and vulnerabilities among minority populations. The proposed project addresses a facet of this mission by examining custody loss as a predictor of increased substance use and criminal behavior among African American women. Specifically, the main objectives of this project are to identify risk factors for custody loss in this population and to assess the substance use and criminal behavior-related outcomes of custody loss. Because children are a significant source of social support for mothers, the loss of such support is likely to increase dependence upon other sources of support such as family and friends. When this support is adequate, women may be less likely to increase their substance use and criminal behavior after losing custody. This study is significant because of its potential to identify differences in the substance use and criminal behavior outcomes of custody loss among African American women and uncover disparities among drug using and non-drug using women across three levels of criminal justice involvement (n=200 per group): prison, probation, and community (no criminal justice involvement). Data for analyses will be derived from Waves 1-3 of the "African American Female Drug Users: HIV, Health Disparities, and Criminality" study (also known as "B-WISE"; NIDA R01-DA22967), an ongoing longitudinal study of 600 African American women. All women are interviewed at baseline and at 6 and 12 months after the initial interview. The specific aims of the present study are (1) To describe the characteristics of African American women who have lost custody of their children, compared to women who have not; (2) To examine the mediating effect of custody loss on the relationship between individual level factors (criminal justice and drug user status) and changes in substance use and criminal behavior over the 12-month study time frame; and (3) To determine if characteristics of the child, the custody loss event, and perceptions of social support are significant predictors of a change in substance use and criminal behavior after losing custody. Multinomial logistic regression will be used to estimate the impact of factors such as social support, criminal justice status, characteristic of the child, and characteristics of the custody loss event on post-custody loss changes in drug use and crime. The significance of this study includes the potential to provide data for criminal justice system and child welfare system policy for the prevention, intervention, and treatment of African American mothers who are substance users. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This study is significant to the public health field because of its potential to uncover disparities among African American women across criminal justice status and drug use status, prior to and after losing custody. This knowledge can be used as a foundation for future criminal justice and child welfare systems-level interventions targeted at early detection and treatment of substance abuse that utilize women's sources of social support as allies. Such interventions would reduce the need for costly child placement services and incarceration, ultimately reducing the disparities experienced by African American women.