Poster #210 - The Role of Negative Emotional Reactivity and Neighborhood Factors in Early Adolescent Marijuana Use

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Elucidating factors underlying variation in marijuana use among young people carries a renewed urgency given the shifting landscape of marijuana regulations (Roffman, 2016; Salas-Wright & Vaughn, 2017). Negative emotional reactivity and the neighborhood environment have been individually associated with marijuana use outcomes; however, little is known about the whether these two factors jointly contribute to marijuana use. In two exceptions (e.g., Burdzovic Andreas & Watson, 2016; Ridenour et al., 2009), temperament characteristics and neighborhood risk interacted to influence marijuana use, suggesting that it may be important to consider these factors together. In addition, prior research examining the role of sex in marijuana use among adolescents is also sparse. The present study examined whether negative emotional reactivity interacted with neighborhood risk (i.e., neighborhood problems) and protective factors (i.e., social cohesion) to predict marijuana use among early adolescents. Sex differences in these relationships also were explored.

Method: Participants were 775 adolescents (M age at Time 1 = 10.95, SD = .88; 69% male; 76% Caucasian, 21% African American, 3% biracial; M age at Time 2 = 12.99, SD = .95; 72% male; 76% Caucasian, 21% African American, 3% biracial) whose fathers were recruited through substance dependence and psychiatric treatment programs, and their mothers. These adolescents reported about their past month frequency of marijuana use at Time 1 and 2 (Tarter, 1990). Mothers reported on neighborhood problems (Loeber et al., 1998) and neighborhood social cohesion at Time 1(Buckner, 1988). Youth reported on their negative emotional reactivity at Time 2 (Caprera et al., 1985). Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to examine whether neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion moderated the association between negative emotional reactivity and later marijuana use. In these regressions, sex, socioeconomic status, youth ethnicity, and father diagnostic status were controlled.

Results: Regression analyses yielded a significant interaction between negative emotional reactivity and neighborhood problems. Analysis of simple slopes indicated that the association between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use frequency was significant at low (B = .92, p =.003) and average (B = .53, p =.019) neighborhood problems, but not high neighborhood problems (B = .14, p =.487). In other words, individuals with lower negative emotional reactivity were at attenuated risk for marijuana use in the context of low and average neighborhood problems, but not high neighborhood problems. In the context of high neighborhood problems, individuals were at heightened risk for marijuana consumption, regardless of their negative emotional reactivity levels. No sex differences were observed.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering the effects of neighborhood problems on marijuana use for early adolescents, suggesting that individual-level factors alone do not sufficiently account for early use. Whether negative emotionality serves as a risk factor for marijuana use depends on negative aspects of youths’ neighborhood contexts. Furthermore, neighborhood problems and negative emotional reactivity influence marijuana use similarly irrespective of sex. Implications for prevention and intervention for adolescents’ marijuana use will be discussed.

Authors

• Rachel Tache, George Washington University
  Presenting Author

• Jill A. Rabinowitz, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sharon Lambert, George Washington University
  Non-Presenting Author