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Progression of Comorbid Depression and Substance Use among Racially Diverse Adults

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Abstract

Comorbidity of depression and substance abuse is common and a major public health burden. Studies of this form of comorbidity in racial and ethnic minoritized (REM) populations are minimal and have mixed findings. The present study examined the effect of general risk factors (family bonding, supervision, involvement, peer delinquency), depression risk factors (caregiver depression), and substance use risk factors (adult family members, sibling, and peer substance use) in early adolescence (~ ages 13–14) on comorbid depression and substance use in later adolescence (~ ages 15–17) and adulthood (~ ages 29–31) and continuity in comorbidity from adolescence to adulthood. Longitudinal data on 1000 Black (n = 680) Hispanic (n = 170) and White (n = 150) individuals came from the Rochester Youth Development Study. Participants were interviewed 14 times over 17 years beginning in 1988. General risk factors predicted comorbidity across racial/ethnic groups. Substance specific risk predicted comorbidity among Black and Hispanic individuals whereas depression specific risk was predictive among White individuals. Adolescent comorbidity predicted comorbidity in adulthood across race. These findings highlight the importance of substance use intervention for racial and ethnic minoritized individuals and mental health risk factors in Whites. The continuity of comorbidity from adolescence to adulthood highlights the importance of targeting adolescents for intervention to prevent long-term manifestation of this form of comorbidity and its associated consequences.

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Acknowledgements

Support for the Rochester Youth Development Study has been provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA020195, R01DA005512), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (86-JN-CX-0007, 96-MU-FX-0014, 2004-MU-FX-0062), the National Science Foundation (SBR-9123299), and the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH56486, R01MH63386). Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the funding agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Colorado State University, 450 W Pitkin St, Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA

    Tiffany M. Jones

  2. College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Megan Augustyn

  3. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Kimberly L. Henry

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Correspondence to Tiffany M. Jones.

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Ethical Approval

The questionnaire and methodology for this study were approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Albany (Protocol # 19F011). Some parts of the RYDS study are publicly available. Phase I of RYDS is currently available through ICPSR. Phase 2 and Phase 3 are in review for potential archival, upon approval by the original funders. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Jones, T.M., Augustyn, M. & Henry, K.L. Progression of Comorbid Depression and Substance Use among Racially Diverse Adults. J of Prevention 45, 287–302 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-024-00767-1

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