Substance use and individual assets in urban adolescents: Subgroups and correlates in emerging adulthood

• Published in: Journal of adolescence (London, England.) Vol. 94; no. 4; pp. 684 - 697
• Main Authors: Min, Meeyoung O., Kim, June‐Yung, Minnes, Sonia, Kim, Sun‐Kyung, Musson Rose, Devon, Singer, Lynn T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-06-2022
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adult; Adults; Age; Black or African American - psychology; Caregiving; Criminal justice; Drug use; Emerging adults; Female; Females; Humans; Individual assets; Infant, Newborn; Latent class analysis; Learner Engagement; Legal Problems; Life transitions; Male; Marijuana; Mental health; Pregnancy; Prenatal Influences; Prospective Studies; Schools; Substance abuse; Substance use; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Symptoms; Teenagers; United States; Urban areas; Young Adult; United States; Emerging adults; Substance use; Individual assets; Adolescents; Latent class analysis
• ISSN: 0140-1971; 1095-9254
• DOI: 10.1002/jad.12056

Introduction
To investigate patterns of divergence in adolescent adjustment, this study examined the co‐occurring patterns of adolescents' individual assets (e.g., school engagement, values) and substance use, and whether the co‐occurring patterns were associated with later functioning in emerging adulthood.
Methods
Participants were 358 (54% females), predominantly African American, urban adolescents, recruited at birth for a prospective study on the effects of prenatal substance exposure in the Midwest United States. Individual assets, using the Developmental Assets Profile, substance use (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana), via biologic assays and self‐report, and substance use‐related problems were assessed at age 15 years. High‐school completion, substance use disorder, mental health symptoms, and legal problems were assessed at age 21 years.
Results
Latent class analysis identified five classes as follows: high assets with low substance use (C1, 10.2%); moderate assets with low substance use (C2, 28.7%); low assets with low substance use (C3, 32%); moderate assets with high substance use (C4, 9.4%); and low assets with high substance use (C5, 19.2%). Despite similar levels of assets, adolescents in C5 reported more life adversities (suboptimal caregiving environment, daily hassles, non‐birth parents' care) than those in C3. C4 and C5 reported more substance use disorder at age 21 years than the three low substance use classes; adolescents in C5 were less likely to complete high school than those in C2. More females in C5 reported greater mental health symptoms than those in C1 and C3, and criminal justice involvement than those in C1.
Conclusions
The current findings underscore the significance of substance use in adolescence in disrupting healthy transition to adulthood, especially among females in the context of low individual assets.