Historical Trauma and Polysubstance Use in Black Young Adults: The Role of Contemporary Racism

Objectives: The legacy of slavery renders Black individuals vulnerable to the harmful effects of historical trauma which may interact with contemporary racism-related experiences to increase substance use. We examined the associations between historical and contemporary racism-related experiences (i.e., historical loss thinking, major racial discrimination events, racial microaggressions, and internalized racism) and polysubstance use in a group of Black young adults. Method: Black young adults (N = 163; 60% female) aged 18–35 years (M = 25.7, SD = 3.27) completed surveys online. Results: Historical loss thinking (b = 0.03, 95% CI [0.01, 0.05], p =.003), racial microaggressions (b = 0.03, 95% CI [0.02, 0.04], p <.001), major racial discrimination events (b = 0.42, 95% CI [0.30, 0.53], p <.001), and internalized racism (b = 0.49, 95% CI [0.33, 0.65], p <.001) were independently associated with past 12-month polysubstance use. Major racial discrimination events showed the largest association with polysubstance use (β = 0.26, 95% CI [0.08, 0.45], p =.006). No significant interactions between historical loss thinking and contemporary racism-related experiences were observed. Conclusions: Findings suggest an association between substance use and historical and contemporary-related experiences among Black young adults. This may suggest that experiences with racism contextualized within historical and contemporary manifestations may impact risk for polysubstance use among Black young adults.