Perceived discrimination, depressive symptoms, and substance use in young adulthood

Perceived discrimination is an important health-related stressor. As suggested by the stress-coping model, substance use often serves as a means to reduce the negative effects of perceived discrimination. This study uses data from the National Survey of American Life-Adults to examine the structural relationship of perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms with lifetime and recent substance use among African American and African Caribbean young adults. Respondents (N = 1910) were 18-35 years old. Compared with African Caribbeans, African Americans report significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and both lifetime and recent substance use. Multiple-group structural equation modeling is used to evaluate model fit and test hypothesized models. Results show good fit of the hypothesized models in both African Americans and African Caribbeans. Full measurement and structural invariance is found across ethnicity. Mediation models explain 18.5% and 47.4% of the variance in lifetime substance use for African Americans and African Caribbeans, respectively, and 23.5% and 35.0% of the variance in recent substance use for African Americans and African Caribbeans, respectively. Mediation tests indicate depressive symptoms partially mediate the relationship between perceived discrimination and lifetime substance use and fully mediated this relationship for recent substance use. This study is the first to demonstrate a positive association between perceived racial discrimination and substance use among African Caribbean young adults. Study findings illuminate the influence of perceived discrimination on substance use and the mechanisms of this relationship among African American and African Caribbean young adults.