About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 7. Health and Wellbeing

Abstract

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Despite being racially white according to the US Census, Middle Eastern and North African individuals are at risk for health disparities within the United States, including differences in substance use. According to the CDC, one in five deaths is related to tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. Rates of tobacco use are often high in the Middle East and North Africa due to cultural norms and permissiveness regarding tobacco versus other substances including alcohol. Researchers have called for assessment of cultural values including religiosity that may reduce substance use risk among Middle Eastern and North African individuals (AlMarri & Oei, 2009; Amer, 2009). Understanding of these pathways in college students is particularly important because these students are highly exposed to substance use and intensive use in adolescence and young adulthood tends to be a risk factor for substance use disorders in adulthood.
The present study used data from the Healthy Minds Institute to assess differences in perceived risk and past month use of alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco, three of the most commonly used substances. A large sample of college students completed a survey, and we limited data to white (n=38526, 68.8% female, Mage=23.5, SD=6.9) and Middle Eastern or North African college students (n=718, 57.9% female, Mage=25.1, SD=6.3). Participants reported how much they think people risk harming themselves physically or in other ways if they have 5 or more drinks of alcohol or smoke cannabis once or twice a week, or have one or more packs of cigarettes per day. They also reported whether they had used each substance over the past month. We used linear regression to test differences in perceived risk and use of each substance after accounting for sex, age, and parental education.
Models indicated that Middle Eastern and North African college students reported higher perceived risk of binge drinking and using cannabis relative to white college students (p<.001). However, there was no difference in perceived risk of smoking cigarettes (p=.2). Regarding use, Middle Eastern and North African college students were less likely to binge drink and to use cannabis than white college students (p<.001), but were more likely to use cigarettes (p=.003).
Next, models tested whether religiosity and discrimination were related to substance use, and whether the magnitude of associations differed between Middle Eastern and North African versus white college students. Discrimination and religiosity did not differentially relate to perceived substance use risk in Middle Eastern and North African versus white college students (all ps>.1). There were no differences in associations with odds of using of alcohol or cannabis (all ps>.05). However, discrimination was related to higher odds of use of tobacco to a larger extent for Middle Eastern and North African students than for white students (p=.02). Both religiosity and discrimination were more strongly related to the frequency of cigarette use in smokers who were Middle Eastern and North African than those who were white (ps<.03).
Taken together, results suggest that ethnic differences may emerge in college students’ substance use, such that Middle East and North African college students viewed alcohol and cannabis use as riskier than white students but showed higher rates of tobacco use. Religiosity and discrimination were each only related to the frequency of use among smokers among Middle Eastern and North African students. These findings suggest that cultivating religiosity and fostering tolerant communities to protect students from cultural stressors such as discrimination may impact risk for tobacco use in Middle Eastern and North African students. Further research is needed to characterize aspects of college students’ substance use including motives for use and experienced consequences.

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