Peer Substance Use Norms and Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs among a National Sample of African American Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between peer substance use norms and lifetime and past year nonmedical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) among African American adolescents. A secondary analysis of the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted (N = 2,420). We performed multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine the associations between peer norms and lifetime and past year NMUPD. For lifetime NMUPD, results revealed that participants who reported that most/all of their peers used substances were significantly more likely to report lifetime use. Similar results were found for past year NMUPD. Recommendations are included.

Keywords:

• African American adolescents
• nonmedical use of prescription drugs
• peer norms
• substance use prevention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).