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The influence of an Africentric worldview and demographic variables on drug knowledge, attitudes, and use among African American youth
Author(s) -
Belgrave Faye Z.,
Townsend Tiffany G.,
Cherry Valerie R.,
Cunningham Dellena M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6629(199709)25:5<421::aid-jcop4>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - spirituality , african american , psychology , drug , clinical psychology , social psychology , medicine , sociology , psychiatry , alternative medicine , ethnology , pathology
Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use are major problems in the inner cities, especially for African American youth. Africentric values may be a protective factor for negative drug outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of Africentric values, spirituality, and demographic variables on drug knowledge, attitudes, and use. Participants were 189 4th‐ and 5th‐graders attending public schools in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland. Measures of Africentric values (i.e., Collective Work/Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, and Self‐Determination), spirituality, age, and whether or not the child resided in a two‐ or one‐parent household were obtained. The results of regression analyses indicated that Collective Work/Responsibility and Cooperative Economics were significant predictors of attitudes toward drugs. Collective Work/Responsibility and spirituality were significant predictors of perceived drug harmfulness. Age and spirituality were significant predictors of drug usage. Age was the only significant predictor of drug knowledge. The Collective Work/Responsibility subscale was the strongest predictor of drug outcomes. The implications for using Africentric prevention approaches for decreasing risk factors and increasing protective factors for drug use among African American youth are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.