Open AccessSpillover Effects of Job Skills Training on Substance Misuse Among Low-Income Youths With Employment Barriers: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Author(s) -
Sehun Oh,
Diana M. DiNitto,
Daniel A. Powers
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2020.305631
Subject(s) - cohort , spillover effect , substance abuse , national longitudinal surveys , medicine , longitudinal study , selection bias , psychology , environmental health , psychiatry , demographic economics , economics , pathology , microeconomics
Objectives. To examine spillover effects of job skills training (vs basic services only [e.g., adult basic education, job readiness training]) on substance misuse among low-income youths with employment barriers. Methods. Data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a longitudinal cohort study of youths born between 1980 and 1984 in the United States. Based on respondents' reports of substance misuse (past-month binge drinking and past-year marijuana and other illicit drug use) from 2000 to 2016, we estimated substance misuse trajectories of job skills training (n = 317) and basic services (n = 264) groups. We accounted for potential selection bias by using inverse probability of treatment weighting. Results. Compared with the basic services group, the job skills training group showed notable long-term reductions in its illicit drug misuse trajectory, translating to a 56.9% decrease in prevalence rates from 6.5% in year 0 to 2.8% in year 16. Conclusions. Job skills training can be an important service component for reducing substance misuse and improving employment outcomes among youths with economic disadvantages and employment barriers.