Health Behaviors among Young Black Adults: Risk and Resilience

描述（由作者提供）：一般来说，药物使用倾向于在成年初期达到顶峰，然后减少，在成年早期（20多岁）变得更“像成年人”，这个过程被称为“成熟”。因此，30岁时的这些使用习惯可以很好地预测未来多年的使用和滥用；然而，迄今为止，它们几乎没有得到实证的关注。这些使用轨迹也因种族而异。黑人青少年比白人青少年使用更少的毒品，但在25岁左右的时候，这种差异会缩小，在20多岁的时候，这种差异会逆转，尤其是大麻和烟草的使用。此外，在使用者中，黑人的滥用报告比白人高（被称为“种族交叉”效应）。这种差异导致了美国的健康差异。例如，某些癌症在黑人中的发病率更高。在性危险行为中也存在类似的模式，因为年轻的黑人成年人不太可能有稳定的关系，更有可能有多个伴侣——这是黑人艾滋病感染率高的一个原因。一个普遍的假设是，这些危险行为的种族差异反映了黑人压力的增加，包括与感知到的种族歧视有关的压力。然而，对这一假设的支持也相对较少，因为关于从青春期到成年早期药物使用的种族和性别差异的研究非常罕见。本研究的目的是通过收集家庭和社区健康研究（FACHS）参与者的第七波数据来探讨这些问题，FACHS是一项对生活在爱荷华州和佐治亚州的约900个非洲裔美国家庭进行的长达15年的前瞻性研究。我们将重点关注“目标”的物质使用情况，他们将在W7时28/29岁；还有他们的恋人；他们的父母（平均年龄55岁）；我们将检查目标及其伴侣的危险性行为（艾滋病毒风险）。这些数据将使我们能够识别风险和保护因素，这些因素有助于维持和滥用药物，而不是在20多岁的黑人中成熟/停止药物使用和危险的性行为。我们将重点关注先前确定的社会心理因素作为这一过程的中介（例如，社会认知，负面影响）和调节因子（种族认同，应对，性别，遗传）。添加第七波还可以比较早期、近期和累积压力对健康行为的影响。这些数据将通过FACHS项目的三个重要补充得到增强：a)从靶标及其父母身上收集生物标志物（来自血液）；b) FACHS样本与年龄相近、社会经济地位非常相似、理论基础相似的大部分为白色的样本进行比较；c)从目标的恋人那里获得关于他们自己和目标行为的更详细的信息。和过去一样，我们的FACHS项目是基于社会认知理论，特别是我们的健康行为双加工模型，它随着FACHS项目的发展而发展。我们还将依赖于Conger的社会压力理论的更新版本，该理论构成了最初FACHS研究的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by): Generally speaking, substance use tends to peak in emerging adulthood and then diminish after that, becoming more "adult-like" by early adulthood (the late 20s) a process referred to as "maturing out." As a result, these use habits at age 30 are very good predictors of future use and abuse for many years to come; and yet, they have received very little empirical attention to date. These use trajectories also differ by race. Black adolescents use less than white adolescents, but the difference diminish by the mid-20s, and reverses in the late 20s, especially for marijuana and tobacco use. In addition, reports of abuse, among users, are higher for blacks than whites (referred to as a "racial crossover" effect). This difference contributes to health disparities in the US-e.g., higher rates of certain cancers in blacks. A similar pattern exists in sexual risk behavior, as young black adults are less likely to be involved in a steady relationship and more likely to have multiple partners- one reason why HIV infection rates are high in blacks. A general assumption is that these racial differences in risky behavior reflect increased stress among blacks, including the stress associated with perceived racial discrimination. There is also relatively little support for this hypothesis, howevr, because studies of racial and gender differences in substance use from adolescence into early adulthood are very rare. The purpose of the proposed research is to explore these issues by collecting a 7th wave of data from participants in the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), a 15-year long prospective study of ~900 African American families living in Iowa and Georgia. We will focus on the substance use of the "targets," who will be 28/29 at W7; and their romantic partners; and their parents (average age of 55); and we will examine the risky sexual behavior (HIV risk) of the targets and their partners. These data will allow us to identify risk an protective factors that contribute to maintenance and abuse vs. maturing out / cessation of substance use and risky sex among blacks in their late 20s. We will focus on previously-identified psychosocial factors as mediators (e.g., social cognitions, negative affect), and moderators (racial identity, coping, gender, genetics) of this process. Adding a 7th wave will also allow a comparison of the effects of early vs. recent and cumulative stress on health behaviors. These data will be augmented by three significant additions to the FACHS project: a) the collection of biomarkers (from blood) from the targets and their parents; b) comparison of the FACHS sample with a mostly-white sample of similar age and SES with very similar measures and a similar theoretical base; and c) more detailed information from the targets' romantic partners about their own and the target's behaviors. As in the past, our FACHS project is based on social cognitive theory, and in particular, our dual-processing model of health behavior, which has evolved along with the FACHS project. We will also rely on an updated version of Conger's social stress theory that formed the foundation for the original FACHS study.