Racial Identity Perceived Discrimination And Health Behaviors Among Black Primary Care Patients Who Use Substances

Download or read book Racial Identity, Perceived Discrimination and Health Behaviors Among Black Primary Care Patients who Use Substances written by Leah E. Squires and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Blacks who use substances are at heightened risk for health problems. Although negative health outcomes are influenced by several factors related to drug use, these individuals also experience multiple sources of discrimination that may contribute to poor health. Previous work has identified associations between indices of perceived discrimination and health. However, there has been no research examining the relative influence of multiple sources of perceived discrimination on health risk behaviors of Blacks who use substances. The primary aim of this study was to examine how multiple types of discrimination and racial identity centrality contribute to the health risk behaviors of Blacks who use substances.A sample of 279 (203 Black) primary care patients who endorsed substance use completed measures of discrimination, racial identity and health risk behaviors. Outcomes of interest were hazardous drinking, smoking, unprotected sex and low physical activity. Two models were tested by logistic regression: (1) a direct effects model, which proposes unique predictive effects of racial identity centrality and discrimination indices on health risk behaviors, and (2) a buffering model, which proposes racial identity centrality moderates the association between perceived discrimination and health risk behavior.Analyses provided limited support for either model. Single variable effects were not observed. Two interactions were significant. Among those experiencing racial discrimination in health care settings, high centrality was protective against low physical activity. In contrast, among those reporting everyday discrimination, high centrality increased the likelihood of unprotected sex.The current study provided limited support for the hypothesis that perceived discrimination contributes to health risk behaviors among Blacks who use substances. Limited variability in discrimination ratings and health risk outcomes may have obscured the ability to detect main effects of discrimination. Given the number of other factors that contribute to health risk behaviors in this population, the perceived discrimination variables assessed may not have a significant impact on health risk behaviors. Examining these models among Black patients who are not substance users may yield different results. Future work on the influence of discrimination on health may benefit from exploring additional factors, such as stress, in multivariable models.