Youth Assets, Neighborhood Factors, and Alcohol Use: A Study of Health Disparities

Objective: We identified possible health disparities in prospective associations among youth as-sets, neighborhood environmental variables, and alcohol use. Methods: Participants were 1111 racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse youth and their parents. Seventeen youth assets assessed at Waves 1 to 4 and neighborhood factors at Wave 1 to 4 were used to make a prospective prediction of youth alcohol use at Waves 2-5 while considering youth race/ethnicity and parental income. We assessed youth alcohol use as alcohol use in the past 30 days and binge drinking in the past 6 months. We analyzed our data using marginal logistic regression. Results: Assets were prospectively associated with the absence of alcohol use in the past 30 days and binge drinking in the past 6 months for black, white and Hispanic youth, and for youth in most income categories (adjusted odds ratio range = 1.5-2.9). There were few statistically significant associations between the neighborhood environment and alcohol use outcomes. Conclusion: The results do not support the notion that the protective effects of youth assets and neighborhood environmental factors from youth alcohol use differ by youth race/ethnicity or parental income.