Desire for Help Among African-American Drug Users

• NCJ Number: 169752
• Journal: Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1997) Pages: 755-770
• Author(s): D Longshore; C Grills; M D Anglin; K Annon
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): P50DA07699
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines factors in African-American drug users' desire for help related to drug use.

Abstract

The study examined demographic factors, drug-problem severity indicators, and social and personal resources of African-American drug users as correlates of their self-reported desire for help with problems related to drug use. The subjects had no prior experience in treatment. The study also tested ethnicity-related attitudes, perceptions and experiences. Findings suggest that interpersonal problem recognition was a key determinant of desire for help. Multivariate analysis disclosed that moral beliefs and expected benefit of drug treatment also were associated with desire for help. Attitudes, perceptions and experiences hypothetically proxied by ethnic group membership were not direct predictors of desire for help in multivariate analyses. Measures of social support and social embedment had no direct bearing on desire for help. The article discusses implications of these findings for patterns of help-seeking and recovery among treatment-naive African-American drug users. Tables, references