Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Exposure to racial discrimination has been consistently linked with risk for substance use.
However, outside of affect-based factors, few other mechanisms have been examined in the
literature. One potential candidate is locus of control (LOC). LOC is a learning processes that
involves the degree to which an individual attributes rewards as resulting from their own control
(internal LOC) versus outside control (external LOC). There is evidence that exposure to
stressors is associated with LOC, with a separate body of literature linking LOC with substance
use. Thus, it is plausible that LOC may be a mechanism underlying the relationship between
racial discrimination and substance use. Additionally, there is evidence that depression is related
to LOC. Thus, the relationship between racial discrimination, locus of control, and substance use
may also be serially mediated through depressive symptoms. The current study investigated
these two pathways among 503 racial/ethnic minority adults aged 18-35 who completed an
online questionnaire that included measures on racial discrimination related stress, locus of
control, depressive symptoms, and substance use. Results indicated a significant indirect effect
of racial discrimination related stress through external locus of control, specifically the chance
orientation, on substance use. Moreover, for both domains of external locus of control (i.e.,
chance and powerful others) a significant serial indirect effect was found through depressive
symptoms within the racial discrimination-substance use pathway among racial/ethnic minority
adults. These findings expand our understanding on potential mechanisms that underlie the racial
discrimination-substance use risk pathway among racial/ethnic minority adults, which may in
turn provide important targets for substance use intervention programming for this population
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/24764 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Khazvand, Shirin |
| Contributors | Zapolski, Tamika C.B., Cyders, Melissa A., Pietri, Evava S. |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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