A social network perspective on heroin and cocaine use among adults: evidence of bidirectional influences (original) (raw)
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Annals of Epidemiology, 2001
The nature of competing social environmental factors' influence on substance abuse is unclear. A longitudinal study was undertaken to determine the relative power of social network and neighborhood characteristics to predict continuing illicit drug use. METHODS: Three hundred forty-two inner-city adults with a history of injection drug use were followed for 1 year; their heroin and cocaine use were assessed semiannually. Multiple logistic regression models were fit to determine the degree to which social network and neighborhood characteristics, assessed at baseline, predicted continuing heroin and/or cocaine use throughout the study period. RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-six (69%) participants reported continuing heroin and/or cocaine use. Drug use by members of the social network was a stronger predictor of participants' continuing drug use (OR ϭ 4.31, 95% CI 2.51 to 7.40) than was a high level of drug-related arrests in the participant's neighborhood (OR ϭ 2.41, 95% CI 1.24 to 4.71), after adjusting for drug treatment and demographic variables. Both seemed to have independent effects on study participants' drug use. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reiterate the importance of breaking ties with drug-using associates, even for those who reside in high-risk environments. Further work is needed to develop interventions that increase drug users' success in altering social network composition or also treat drug-using network members.
Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Personal Network Attributes, and Use of Heroin and Cocaine
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2007
Background-Drug abuse is a significant public health problem because of its association with numerous negative health and social consequences. Examining the social context of drug use represents a burgeoning avenue of research in drug abuse. This study investigates the effects of neighborhood disadvantage and network factors on current heroin and cocaine use among a predominantly African-American adult sample residing in Baltimore City. Methods-This study employs a cross-sectional, multilevel design using data from two sources: the SHIELD Study, a network-oriented HIV intervention in Baltimore City and the 1990 US Decennial Census. The sample consisted of 1305 adults from 249 neighborhoods (census block groups) across Baltimore City. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed to examine personal network and neighborhood effects on current heroin and cocaine use. Results-Neighborhood poverty was significantly associated with current heroin and cocaine use (OR=1.51, CI: 1.06, 2.15). Social support (OR=0.80, CI: 0.69, 0.92) and having ties to employed persons (OR=0.47, CI: 0.24, 0.92) were protective of current drug use, but did not buffer negative effects of neighborhood poverty in the face of negative drug influences in the network (OR=8.62, CI: 5.81, 12.79). Conclusions-The contexts of neighborhoods and networks represent key determinants in understanding the social epidemiology of drug abuse. Network attributes have strong influences on drug use and neighborhood poverty may increase odds of use. Further research is warranted to determine other aspects of neighborhood environments that may put individuals at risk for drug use and abuse.
Drug use in the social networks of heroin and cocaine users before and after drug cessation
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2008
The present study examined Social Control processes in drug cessation among adults. Social Control theory posits that the association between drug use and the drug use of a person's social network results from an individual seeking out similar peers. The data included 629 individuals who reported past-year heroin or cocaine use at baseline and had follow-up data in a community study in Baltimore, MD. Negative binomial regression modeling indicated that the reduction in social network drug use was significantly greater for quitters than those who did not quit. Compared to non-quitters at baseline, the IRR of the number of drug-using network members was 0.86 for quitters at baseline, 0.71 for non-quitters at follow-up, and 0.28 for quitters at follow-up (all p < 0.05). These findings support Social Control theory in adult drug use cessation. Future research should extend the length of follow-up and assess bidirectional influences.
Twin Research and Human Genetics, 2008
The negative social attributes associated with drug use and abuse/dependence may arise as a result of shared genetic or environmental factors rather than through causal pathways. To evaluate this possibility, structured interviews were conducted for 3969 male and female twins from the Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry and evaluations of their socioeconomic status (SES), social interactions, and use of drugs were obtained. Drug involvement was categorized as never used, tried, or met criteria for abuse or dependence. A co-twin control design was implemented using hierarchical linear modeling to assess whether twins who used drugs experienced lower SES and social support than non-using co-twins. Poorer social functioning in the drug-exposed twin is consistent with a causal relationship, while similar functioning in the drug exposed versus naive twins imply shared genetic or common environmental factors. Use of drugs was not significantly related to any SES measures. However, education and jo...
Criminology, 1991
Theories of delinquency posit two opposing views on the social interactions of deviant individuals. Social control theory assumes that deviants have poor relationships with others. Cultural deviance theory assumes that deviant individuals are similar to nondeviants and have strong ties with members of their friendship networks. These theories have not been empirically tested for male and female users of illicit drugs. Descriptive and multivariate analyses are reported here for young adult men and women aged 28 to 29, who were asked about their same-sex and oppositesex friends in general and three speci3c close friends. Few diferences were found in the characteristics of friendship networks of illicit drug users and nonusers. Where differences were observed. the frequent users tended to have more intimate friendships than other young adults, which supports the cultural deviance perspective. Structural equation models predicting two latent components of intimacy, confiding and interacting, with the three closest friends and same-sex and opposite-sex friends indicate that, controlling for other determinants of intimacy with friends, illicit drug use retains a unique effect and predicts substantially higher levels of intimacy among males. The strong social ties of adult drug-using males will make it more diflcult to develop effective intervention strategies targeted toward individual users.
Social Science & Medicine, 2012
This study investigates two contagion mechanisms of peer influence based on direct communication (cohesion) versus comparison through peers who occupy similar network positions (structural equivalence) in the context of adolescents' drinking alcohol and smoking. To date, the two contagion mechanisms have been considered observationally inseparable, but this study attempts to disentangle structural equivalence from cohesion as a contagion mechanism by examining the extent to which the transmission of drinking and smoking behaviors attenuates as a function of social distance (i.e., from immediate friends to indirectly connected peers). Using the U.S. Add Health data consisting of a nationally representative sample of American adolescents (Grades 7-12), this study measured peer risk-taking up to four steps away from the adolescent (friends of friends of friends of friends) using a network exposure model. Peer influence was tested using a logistic regression model of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking. Results indicate that influence based on structural equivalence tended to be stronger than influence based on cohesion in general, and that the magnitude of the effect decreased up to three steps away from the adolescent (friends of friends of friends). Further analysis indicated that structural equivalence acted as a mechanism of contagion for drinking and cohesion acted as one for smoking. These results indicate that the two transmission mechanisms with differing network proximities can differentially affect drinking and smoking behaviors in American adolescents.
The Peer Context of Adolescent Substance Use: Findings from Social Network Analysis
Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2006
To examine the peer context of adolescent substance use, social network analysis was used to measure three domains of attributes of peer networks: social embeddedness, social status, and social proximity to substance users. The sample was a panel of 5,104 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in three public school systems surveyed every 6 months for five assessments. Hierarchical generalized linear models showed that adolescents less embedded in the network, with greater status, and with closer social proximity to peer substance users were more likely to use substances. Also, adolescents in less dense networks and networks with higher smoking prevalence were more likely to smoke and use marijuana. Results establish the utility of social network analysis for measuring peer context and indicate that conventionality of relationships-having friends in the network, being liked but not too well liked, and having fewer friends who use substances-is most beneficial.
Gender, Personal Networks, and Drug Use among Rural African Americans
The International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 2009
One of the main unil'ing concepts of research examining gender variations in drug use behavior is the social network. Yet, research specifically focusing on how the social networks of these groups differ by gender is limited. Few studies have investigated the social networks of rural African Americans who use drugs. In this study, we compared the personal networks of 20 rural African-American men and women addicted to cocaine using social network analysis (SNA) methods. The data do not support strong assertions about gender differences in the personal networks of the study sample. However, the results of the study suggest that men tend to have more drug users in their networks than women, as well as less structurally cohesive networks. Women tend to include more men in their personal networks than men included women. Implications of the research results for network-based drug prevention intervention as well as the value of SNA methods for drug use research are discussed.
Connections (Toronto, Ont.), 2013
The purpose of this analysis was to examine the effect of social network cohesiveness on drug economy involvement, and to test whether this relationship is mediated by drug support network size in a sample of active injection drug users. Involvement in the drug economy was defined by self-report of participation in at least one of the following activities: selling drugs, holding drugs or money for drugs, providing street security for drug sellers, cutting/packaging/cooking drugs, selling or renting drug paraphernalia (e.g., pipes, tools, rigs), and injecting drugs in others' veins. The sample consists of 273 active injection drug users in Baltimore, Maryland who reported having injected drugs in the last 6 months and were recruited through either street outreach or by their network members. Egocentric drug support networks were assessed through a social network inventory at baseline. Sociometric networks were built upon the linkages by selected matching characteristics, and k-pl...