Gender Differences in the Impact of Social Support on Crack Use Among African Americans

Abstract

This article examines the influence of social support on crack use in a sample of 435 African American out-of-treatment crack users recruited through street outreach in Raleigh, North Carolina, between 2000 and 2002. Multivariate regression models indicated that social support was not a strong influence on crack use. For women, no social support variables predicted crack use, whereas for men, having a non-using partner was negatively associated with crack use. Findings indicate that existing social support is not strongly linked to drug use among African Americans, but African American men may be positively influenced by non-using sexual partners. Limitations of the sample and data are discussed. Further research is needed on the influence of social support for African American drug-using populations.

Keywords:

• crack cocaine
• social support
• African American
• gender differences

Notes

Notes

*The journal's style utilizes the category substance abuse as a diagnostic category. Substances are used or misused; living organisms are and can be abused. Editor's note.

¹Treatment consisted of clinic-based contingency management treatment integrated with counseling from a community reinforcement approach. Note that this is one specific type of treatment; thus, findings may not be generalizable to other types of treatment for cocaine or other drugs.