Gang Membership & Marijuana Use among African American Female Adolescents in North Carolina

The southeastern US sustains the highest high school dropout rates, and gangs persist in underserved communities. African American female adolescents who drop out of school and are gang members are at substantial risk of exposure to severe violence, physical abuse, and sexual exploitation. 

In this study of 237 female African American adolescents 16–19 years of age from North Carolina who dropped out or considered dropping out, 11% were current or past gang members. Adolescents who reported gang membership began smoking marijuana at a mean age of 13, whereas those who reported no gang membership began at a mean age of 15 years (P<0.001). 

The mean ages of first alcohol use were 14 years and 15 years for gang members and non-gang members, respectively (P=0.04). Problem alcohol use was high in both groups: 40% and 65% for non-gang and gang members, respectively (P=0.02). Controlling for frequent marijuana use and problem alcohol use, adolescents who reported gang membership were more likely than non-gang members to experience sexual abuse, experience physical abuse, report emotional abuse from their main partner, run away from home, get arrested, and report violence in their neighborhood including murder and fights with weapons. Gang members were less likely to receive emotional support. 

These findings reinforce the urgent need to reach young African American women in disadvantaged communities affiliated with gangs to address the complexity of context and interconnected risk behaviors.

Below:  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.

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/B40Ug7

By:  Wendee M Wechsberg,1,2,3,4 Irene A Doherty,1 Felicia A Browne,1,5 Tracy L Kline,1 Monique G Carry,6 Jerris L Raiford,6 and Jeffrey H Herbst6

¹Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluations and Interventions Research Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, USA

²Gillings Global School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

³Psychology in the Public Interest, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA

⁴Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

⁵Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

⁶Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

Correspondence: Wendee M Wechsberg, Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluations and Interventions Research Program, RTI International, 3040 East Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194, USA, Fax +1 919 485 5555, Email gro.itr@wmw

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