Perceived racism-based police violence and substance use among black and hispanic emerging adults: Evidence from a national sample

TL;DR

This study finds that exposure to racism-based police violence is linked to increased alcohol and cannabis use among Black and Hispanic young adults.

Contribution

The study is the first to examine the relationship between racism-based police violence exposure and substance use in Black and Hispanic emerging adults using a national sample.

Findings

Higher levels of racism-based police violence exposure are significantly associated with increased alcohol and cannabis use.

A dose-response pattern is observed, with greater exposure linked to higher substance use.

Victim exposure is the strongest predictor of alcohol use, while witness exposure is most strongly linked to cannabis use.

Abstract

Racism-based police violence (RPV) is an emerging public health concern. However, limited research has examined the relationship between RPV exposure and substance use, particularly among Black or African American and Hispanic emerging adults aged 18–29 years. This study assessed associations between lifetime RPV exposure across three domains (direct victimization, witnessing in person, and media-based exposure) and past 30-day and 12-month alcohol and cannabis use in this population.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August to October 2023 using a national nonprobability internet sample recruited via Qualtrics. The analytic sample included 936 Black or African American (48 %) and Hispanic (52 %) emerging adults. Negative binomial and logistic regression models were used to examine associations.

Higher levels of RPV exposure were significantly associated with increased alcohol and cannabis use. RPV–Victim exposure was the strongest predictor of alcohol use, including past 30-day (IRR = 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.00–1.05) and 12-month (OR = 1.04, 95 % CI: 1.01–1.07) use. RPV–Witness exposure was most strongly associated with cannabis use, including past 30-day (IRR = 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.00–1.03) and 12-month (OR = 1.03, 95 % CI: 1.01–1.06) use. A dose-response pattern was observed across increasing levels of RPV exposure.

RPV exposure is a significant correlate of alcohol and cannabis use among Black or African American and Hispanic emerging adults. Findings suggest that perceived racialized policing is a significant risk factor for substance use and warrants further investigation as a potential structural determinant, highlighting it as an important target for public health interventions.

•RPV exposure is linked to increased alcohol and cannabis use among emerging adults.•RPV–Victim exposure most strongly predicts alcohol use across timeframes.•RPV-Witness exposure is the strongest predictor of cannabis use.•A dose-response pattern is observed across all RPV exposure types.•Findings highlight RPV as a potential structural determinant of substance use disparities.

RPV exposure is linked to increased alcohol and cannabis use among emerging adults.

RPV–Victim exposure most strongly predicts alcohol use across timeframes.

RPV-Witness exposure is the strongest predictor of cannabis use.

A dose-response pattern is observed across all RPV exposure types.

Findings highlight RPV as a potential structural determinant of substance use disparities.

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