Racial/Ethnic Variations in Substance-Related Disorders Among Adolescents in the United States

Abstract

Problematic alcohol and drug use in adolescence has a negative influence on the affected individuals, their families, and society.¹ Because psychoactive drugs alter neurotransmission in the brain, repeated use could have long-lasting adverse effects on brain development and overall health.^2-4 Early substance use confers a heightened risk for addiction, psychiatric and medical disorders, poor psychosocial functioning, treatment needs, and mortality.^1-9 Adolescence marks the period of life with the highest risk for initiating substance use¹⁰; thus, adolescents constitute a high-risk group requiring research to guide prevention efforts and health policy making. Furthermore, there is a growing need for understanding substance-related disorders among adolescents of various racial/ethnic backgrounds to track health statistics, plan for and improve health services, and identify vulnerable subgroups for focused intervention. Children and adolescents of nonwhite race/ethnicity are the fastest growing population; by 2030, adolescents of nonwhite race/ethnicity are projected to represent more than half of the US population younger than 18 years.¹¹ Therefore, many adolescents at risk to begin substance use will be of nonwhite race/ethnicity. For example, young Hispanics, the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, have an elevated risk for substance use.^11-14