Perceived racial and social class discrimination and cannabis involvement among Black youth and young adults

Investigating the co-occurrence of marijuana use and prescription opioid misuse with multiple suicide attempts among adolescents with a history of suicidal ideation

This study investigated the co-occurrent association of marijuana use and prescription opioid misuse with multiple suicide attempts among adolescents with a history of suicidal ideation. Data came from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The sample was comprised of adolescents ages 14-18 who reported suicidal ideation during the past year (n = 2,562). Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the co-occurring association of marijuana use and prescription opioid misuse with multiple suicide attempts. Of the 2,562 adolescents who experienced suicidal ideation, 19.2 % also attempted suicide multiple times during the past year and 19.0 % reported ever using marijuana and misusing prescription opioids, 8.8 % misused prescription opioids only, and 33.3 % used marijuana only. In the multivariate model, for adolescents who used marijuana and misused prescription opioid, the risk of attempting suicide once was 1.77 times higher (RRR = 1.77, 95 % CI = 1.22-2.59) and the risk of multiple suicide attempts was 3.23 times higher (RRR = 3.23, 95 % CI = 1.95-5.33) when compared to adolescents who had never used marijuana nor misused prescription opioid. The risk of multiple suicide attempts was greater for bisexual and racial/ethnic minority adolescents and adolescents who felt sad or hopeless. Interventions that prevent prescription opioid misuse among adolescents may be effective in mitigating suicide attempts.

Socio-demographic Correlates of Electronic Cigarette and Cannabis Co-use Among Naïve and Tobacco Adolescent Users

The increasing co-use of e-cigarette and cannabis among youth has become a public health challenge. The present analyses aimed to identify prevalence and correlates of past-month co-use of e-cigarettes and cannabis among adolescents with and without prior tobacco use. For this panel study, 5 years of cross-sectional data (2014-2018) were used from 8th, 10th-, and 12th-grade adolescents in the Monitoring the Future study, a nationally representative survey of U.S. students. We examined prevalence and correlates of e-cigarettes and cannabis co-use among adolescents who had ever used tobacco (n = 15,136) and among those who had never used tobacco (n = 56,525). Adolescents who had ever used tobacco showed significantly higher rates of e-cigarettes and cannabis co-use compared to adolescents who had never used tobacco (17.1% vs. 2.2%, p < 0.01). Results from adjusted multinomial regression models showed that overall, Black and Hispanic adolescents tobacco users were less likely than Whites to co-use e-cigarettes and cannabis. Black adolescents who had used tobacco previously were more likely than Whites to have used cannabis exclusively. Black and Hispanic tobacco-naïve adolescents were more likely than Whites to have used cannabis exclusively, while Black tobacco-naïve adolescents were less likely to use e-cigarettes exclusively or co-use e-cigarettes and cannabis. Overall, males and twelve graders were more likely than males and eight graders to use or co-use cannabis or e-cigarettes, respectively. Among lifetime tobacco users, higher levels of parental education were associated with co-use of cannabis and e-cigarettes. Racial/ethnic-specific patterns of e-cigarette and cannabis co-use depends on adolescents' prior experience with tobacco. The higher rates of use and co-use of e-cigarettes and cannabis among prior tobacco users suggest that targeted interventions are needed for this group. Identified socio-demographic groups at higher risk of co-use of e-cigarettes and cannabis need to be further studied.

Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health behaviours across 32 different countries - The role of country-level social mobility

Higher family affluence is associated with healthier behaviours in adolescents, but the strength of this association varies across countries. Differences in social mobility at the country-level, i.e. the extent to which adolescents develop a different socioeconomic status (SES) than their parents, may partially explain why the association between family affluence and adolescent health behaviours is stronger in some countries than in others. Using data from adolescents aged 11-15 years from 32 countries, participating in the 2017/2018 wave of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study (N = 185,086), we employed multilevel regression models with cross-level interactions to examine whether country-level social mobility moderates the association between family affluence and adolescent health behaviours (i.e. moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, vigorous physical activity, healthy and unhealthy foods consumption, having breakfast regularly, and weekly smoking). Higher family affluence was more strongly associated with higher levels of adolescent physical activity in countries characterized by high levels of social mobility. No cross-level interactions were found for any of the other health behaviours. Differences in social mobility at the country-level may contribute to cross-national variations in socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent physical activity. Further research can shed light on the mechanisms linking country-level social mobility to inequalities in adolescent physical activity to identify targets for policy and interventions.