SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
FEBRUARY 21, 2023
By Melissa Krug
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Government data show that approximately 7.2 million women in the United States have substance use disorders (SUDs) and almost 20 million reported illicit substance use in the past year. New research suggests that trauma leads to high levels of intergenerational substance use among Black women, and race and gender may play a role, according to researchers from Penn State and the University of Kentucky.
“More attention is needed to better understand the needs among Black women as the relationship between trauma and SUDs may be more pronounced because of their race and gender,” noted Abenaa Jones, assistant professor of human development and family studies and Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professor in Health and Human Development.
In the first study of its kind, the researchers examined the effects of trauma and intergenerational substance use on substance use and child welfare outcomes among Black women. Each increase in the number of parents or grandparents with drug and/or alcohol problems was associated with 30% increased odds of women’s drug use and 40% increased odds of these women having an open Child Protective Services (CPS) case with their children, according to Jones. Click here to continue reading.