Gang membership and marijuana use among African American female adolescents in North Carolina

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of African American female adolescents who considered dropping out or dropped out of school, Raleigh and Durham, NC, 2010–2012

	n	%
Total	237	100
Demographics
Age, mean (SD)	17.6 (1.02)
Below grade level	154	65
Currently employed	43	18
Food insecurity	51	22
Ever homeless	64	27
Ever arrested	80	34
Live in single-headed household with mother	83	35
No male adult in household	180	76
Moved at least two times in past 6 months	76	32
Reproductive health
Ever given birth	69	29
Ever diagnosed with STI	95	40
Within past 6 months	30	32
Obtained STI test in study	81	34
Tested positive for STI	23	28
Exposure to gangs
Gangs in neighborhood	132	57
Know gang members	225	95
Hang out with gang members	123	52
Family members in gang	167	70
Witness gang fights	92	39
Ever had sex partner in gang	165	73
Ever member of a gang	26	11

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; STI, sexually transmitted infection.

Figure 1 Distribution of the number of days smoked marijuana during past 90 days among participants who smoked at least 1 day, stratified by gang membership.

Notes: Most participants smoked either on 1 day or daily. The median number of days was significantly higher among gang members. There was variability among gang members after a threshold of 45–50 days.

Table 2 Patterns of alcohol and marijuana use by gang membership among African American female adolescents, Raleigh and Durham, NC, 2010–2012 (N=237)

	Gang member – ever				P-value
	No		Yes
	N	%	N	%
Marijuana use
Ever smoked marijuana	192	91.4	25	96.2	0.703a
Age first smoked
Mean (95% CI)	14.8 (14.5, 15.1)		12.9 (11.8, 14.0)		<0.001b
Median (IQR)	15 (13, 16)		13 (12, 15)		0.001c
Marijuana use in past 90 days	171	89.5	24	96.0	0.480a
Number of days smoked
Mean (95% CI)	37.0 (31.4, 42.7)		52.6 (38.0, 67.2)		0.05b
Median (IQR)	20.0 (3, 90)		62.5 (17.0, 89.5)		0.09c
Daily smoker
No	128	74.9	18	75.0
Yes	43	25.2	6	25.0	1.00a
Alcohol use
Ever drank alcohol	205	97.2	26	100.0	1.00a
Age of first drink
Mean (95% CI)	15.0 (14.7, 15.3)		14.1 (13.0, 15.1)		0.04b
Median (IQR)	15 (14, 16)		14 (13, 16)		0.06c
Age at first time getting drunk
Mean (95% CI)	15.6 (15.4, 15.9)		14.6 (13.5, 15.7)		0.006b
Median (IQR)	16 (15, 17)		15 (13, 16)		0.02c
Sum of two AUDIT questions
Mean (95% CI)	3.34 (3.1, 3.6)		4.39 (3.6, 5.2)		<0.002b
Median (IQR)	3 (2, 4)		4 (3, 6)		0.004c
Problem level alcohol consumption
No	121	59.2	9	34.6	0.02a
Yes	84	39.8	17	65.4

Notes:

a Fisher’s exact;

b t-test;

c Wilcoxon rank sum.

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; IQR, interquartile range; AUDIT, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.

Table 3 Correlates of gang membership among African American female adolescents, Raleigh and Durham NC, 2010–2012 (N=237)

	Ever been in a gang				Overall sample		ORa	95% CI	P-value
	No		Yes
	(n=211)	%	(n=26)	%	(n=237)	%
Sociodemographics
Food insecurity (ref: able to buy enough food)	42	19.9	9	34.6	51	21.5	1.63	0.65, 4.07	0.293
Ever homeless (ref: never homeless)	53	25.1	11	42.3	64	27.0	1.79	0.75, 4.29	0.188
Ever given birth (ref: never given birth)	59	28.0	10	38.5	69	29.1	1.44	0.60, 3.47	0.414
Ever run away from home (ref: never run away)	35	16.6	13	50.0	48	20.3	4.65	1.90, 11.40	0.001
Ever arrested (ref: never arrested)	64	30.3	16	61.5	80	33.8	2.61	1.05, 6.47	0.039
Hard drug use
Self-reported hard drug use (ref: no hard drug use)b	22	10.4	4	15.4	26	11.0	1.28	0.38, 4.27	0.693
Sexual behaviors
Age of first sex #13 years (ref: age 14 or older)	67	31.8	9	34.6	76	32.1	0.95	0.39, 2.31	0.901
Ever trade sex (ref: never trade sex)	27	12.8	8	30.8	35	14.8	1.92	0.71, 5.19	0.198
Ever diagnosed with an STI (ref: never diagnosed)	82	38.9	13	50.0	95	40.1	1.34	0.57, 3.11	0.502
Concurrent sex partners ($2 partners in past 30 days) (ref: one partner)	39	18.6	10	38.5	49	20.8	2.24	0.91, 5.53	0.081
Alcohol or drug use at last sex act (ref: no alcohol and no drug use)	62	29.4	9	34.6	71	30.0	0.62	0.23, 1.63	0.329
Condom used last sex (ref: condomless sex)	111	52.6	11	42.3	122	51.5	0.70	0.30, 1.63	0.409
Abuse
Emotional abuse from main partner (ref: no abuse)	40	21.9	13	52.0	53	25.5	3.55	1.44, 8.72	0.006
Sexual abuse in lifetime (ref: never sexually abused)	37	17.6	10	38.5	47	19.9	2.60	1.06, 6.40	0.037
Physical abuse in lifetime (ref: never physically abused)	49	23.3	18	69.2	67	28.4	7.33	2.90, 18.53	<0.001
	Ever been in a gang				Overall sample		ORa	(95% CI)	P-value
	No (n=211)		Yes (n=26)		(n=237)
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Psychosocial scales
Material support score	18.9	4.95	16.5	4.45	18.6	4.95	0.92	0.84, 1.01	0.066
Emotional support score	21.6	4.74	18.9	4.64	21.3	4.8	0.89	0.81, 0.97	0.012
Depression score (CES-D)	9.3	5.24	11.7	4.65	9.5	5.22	1.09	1.01, 1.18	0.036
Illegal behaviors	1.2	1.44	3.5	2.32	1.5	1.71	1.78	1.40, 2.26	<0.001
Peers’ illegal behaviors	11.3	7.40	16.5	10.72	11.8	7.98	1.06	1.01, 1.12	0.030
Violence
Perceived neighborhood violence	7.9	7.60	12.7	10.28	8.5	8.05	1.05	1.00, 1.10	0.037
Aware of murder in neighborhood (ref: no awareness of a murder)	N=40	19.1%	N=13	50.0%	N=53	22.5%	3.27	1.35, 7.96	0.009
Aware fights with weapons in neighborhood (ref: no awareness of fights)	N=99	46.9%	N=20	76.9%	N=119	50.2%	3.06	1.15, 8.11	0.025

Notes:

a Each variable controlled for frequent marijuana use and problem level alcohol use;

b hard drugs include cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, opiates (including heroin), oxycodone or prescription medications.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; STI, sexually transmitted infection; SD, standard deviation; CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression; ref, reference.