STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS AND CHANGES IN SUBSTANCE USE AMONG A MULTIRACIAL ETHNIC SAMPLE OF ADOLESCENT BOYS

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the prevalence of stress ful life events and of the relationships between stressful life events and alcohol, illicit drug, and cigarette use among a multi-ethnic com munity sample (N = 2,446) of early adolescent boys. The data were deri ved from a longitudinal study of substance use behaviors and their psy chosocial correlates among Hispanic, African-American, and White non-H ispanic adolescent boys residing in Dade County, Florida. Similar leve ls of event exposure were found among the subgroups, with one exceptio n. African Americans were significantly more likely to experience a de ath-related event in the past year. Stressful life events were not sig nificantly related with substance use among African-American students. Among Hispanics and White non-Hispanics, however, a number of signifi cant positive relationships were found. A number of bidirectional even ts (i.e., those events that could be either an antecedent to and/or th e result of substance use) were significantly related with stressful e vents, highlighting the importance of longitudinal research in delinea ting the temporal ordering of events and outcomes. The authors conclud e that future stress research with adolescents should pay particular a ttention to the important moderating influences of culture and ethnici ty as well as to the bidirectional nature of life events and substance use.