@article{ref1,
title="The role of depressive symptoms in substance use among African American boys exposed  to community violence",
journal="Journal of Traumatic Stress",
year="2020",
author="Tache, Rachel M. and Lambert, Sharon F. and Ialongo, Nicholas S.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Adolescents exposed to community violence (CV) are at increased risk for alcohol,  marijuana, and tobacco use. The disproportionate exposure to CV among African  American boys heightens their susceptibility to substance use and related problems. Depressive symptoms are linked to both CV exposure and adolescent substance use;  however, their role in the link between CV exposure and substance use in African  American male adolescents has received little attention. The current study examined  whether depressive symptoms mediate or moderate the associations between CV exposure  and substance use among African American male adolescents. Participants were 225  African American adolescent boys in Baltimore, Maryland who completed measures of CV  exposure and depressive symptoms in 10th grade and measures of substance use in 10th  and 11th grades. Hierarchal linear regression analyses indicated that depressive  symptoms moderated associations between violent victimization and alcohol and  tobacco use, R(2) =.21-.30, ps <.001. There was a positive association between CV  victimization and alcohol and tobacco use among those who reported high levels of  depressive symptoms but not low levels. Depressive symptoms also moderated the link  between witnessing CV and alcohol use such that witnessing CV was negatively related  to alcohol use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms only. The  findings suggest that depressive symptoms may play an important role in  differentiating alcohol and tobacco use outcomes in CV-exposed African American  boys. Prevention efforts should assess for depressive symptoms to identify  adolescent boys with the highest risk of substance use.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0894-9867",
doi="10.1002/jts.22566",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.22566"
}