The purpose of this paper is to add to the knowledge base on prevention programming by explicating the characteristics of 12 programs (out of 47) serving African American youth funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). Findings show that African American youth exhibit lower use rates than most other ethnic and racial groups, but by the time they reach ages 16 to 18, use is prevalent. Data on correlations of risk and protective factors with substance use reveal a very similar pattern of rank order in the strength of correlations for African American youth with youth who are not African American in the CSAP sample. The African American programs integrated Africentric principles and themes into other prevention strategies: education-and-awareness, risk-andprotection, and positive-alternative-interventions. The analysis shows that Africentric programming contributes to higher rates of satisfaction and perceived program importance to youth participating in the African American programs, compared to African American youth in other programs.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aktan, G. B.
(1999). A cultural consistency evaluation of a substance abuse prevention program with inner city African Americans. Journal of Primary Prevention, 19(3), 227-239.
2.
Belgrave, F. Z.
, Cherry, V. R., Cunningham, D., Walwyn, S., Letlaka-Rennert, K., & Phillips, F. (1994). The influence of Africentric values, self-esteem, and Black identity on drug attitudes among African American fifth graders: A preliminary study. Journal of Black Psychology, 20(2), 143-156.
3.
Cherry, V. R.
, Belgrave, F. Z., Jones, W., Kennon, D. K., Gray, F. S., & Phillips, F. (1998). NTU: An Africentric approach to substance abuse prevention among African American youth. Journal of Primary Prevention, 18(3), 319-339.
4.
Dawkins, M. P.
(1996). The social context of substance use among African American youth: Rural, urban, and suburban comparisons. Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education, 41, 68-85.
5.
Dent, C. W.
, Sussman, S. I., Ellickson, P., & Richardson, J. (1996). Is current drug abuse prevention programming generalizable across ethnic groups?American Behavioral Scientist, 39, 911-918.
6.
Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies
. (1998, August). National household survey on drug abuse: Population estimates (Publication No. [SMA] 99-3327). Rockville, MD: Author.
7.
Donaldson, S. I.
, Sussman, S., MacKinnon, D. P., Severson, H. H., Glynn, T., Murray, D. M., & Stone, E. J. (1996). Drug abuse prevention programming: Do we know what content works?American Behavioral Scientist, 39(7), 868-883.
8.
Felix-Ortiz, M.
, & Newcomb, M. D. (1992). Risk and protective factors for drug use among Latino and White adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 14, 195-213.
9.
Flannery, D. J.
, Vazonyi, A. T., Torquati, J., & Fridrich, A. (1994). Ethnic and gender differences in risk for early adolescent substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 23, 195-213.
10.
Foster, P. M.
, Phillips, F., Belgrave, F. Z., Randolph, S. M., & Braithwaite, N. (1993). An Africentric model for AIDS education, prevention, and psychological services within the African American community. Journal of Black Psychology, 19(2), 123-141.
11.
Gary, L. E.
, & Berry, G. L. (1984). Some determinants of attitudes toward substance abuse in an urban ethnic community. Psychological Reports, 54, 539-542.
12.
Kandel, D. B.
, Yamagichi, K., & Chen, K. (1992). Stages of progression in drug involvement from adolescence to adulthood: Further evidence for the gateway theory. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 53, 447-457.
13.
Maton, K. I.
, & Zimmerman, M. A. (1990). Psychological predictors of substance use among urban Black male adolescents. Paper presented at the 98th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston.
14.
Newcomb, M. D.
, & Bentler, P. M. (1986). Frequency and sequence of drug use: A longitudinal study for early adolescence to young adulthood. Journal of Drug Education, 16, 101-120.
15.
Newcomb, M. D.
, & Bentler, P. M. (1989). Substance use and abuse among children and teenagers. American Psychologist, 44, 242-248.
16.
Oliver, W.
(1989). Black males and social problems: Prevention through Afrocentric socialization. Journal of Black Studies, 20(1), 15-39.
17.
Randolph, S. M.
, & Banks, H. D. (1993). Making a way out of no way: The promise of Africentric approaches to HIV prevention. Journal of Black Psychology, 19(2), 204-214.
18.
Sale, E. W.
, Sambrano, S., Springer, J. F., Turner, C., & Hermann, J. (1998). Toward a theory of prevention: Alternative correlates to adolescent substance use. Presented at the American Association Annual meeting, Chicago, Illinois.
19.
Sambrano, S.
, Springer, F., & Hermann, J. (1997). Informing the next generation of prevention programs: CSAP’s cross-site evaluation of the 1994-95 high-risk grantees. Journal of Community Psychology, 25, 375-395.
20.
Springer, J. F.
(1999). Beyond the magic bullet: How we can achieve a science-based prevention. In Getting results update 1: Positive youth development: Research, commentary, and action. Sacramento: California Department of Education.
21.
Stevenson, H. C.
, Reed, J., Bodison, P., & Bishop, A. (1997). Racism stress management: Racial socialization beliefs and the experience of depression and anger in African American youth. Youth & Society, 29(2), 197-222.
22.
Stevenson, H. C.
, & Renard, G. (1993). Trusting ole’ wise owls: Therapeutic use of cultural strengths in African American families. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24(4), 433-442.
23.
Tatum, B. D.
(1997). “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”: And other conversations about race. New York: Basic Books.
24.
Tobler, N. S.
(1986). Meta-analysis of 143 adolescent drug prevention programs: Quantitative outcome results of program participants compared to a control or comparison group. Journal of Drug Prevention, 16, 537-567.
25.
Turner, R. J.
(1997). Affirming consciousness: The Africentric perspective. In J. Everett, S. S. Chipungu, & B. Leashore (Eds.), Child welfare: An Africentric perspective (pp. 36-57). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
26.
Ward, J. V.
(1995). Cultivating a morality of care in African American adolescents: A culture-based model of violence prevention. Harvard Educational Review, 65(2).
27.
Warner, L. A.
, Kessler, R. C., Hughes, M., Anthony, J. C., & Nelson, C. B. (1995). Prevalence and correlates of drug use and dependence in the United States. Archives of General Psychology, 52, 219-229.
