Risk and Protective Factors of Youth Prescription Drug Misuse: Variations Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Determining the risk and protective factors of youth prescription drug misuse across racial/ethnic groups is still an important area of inquiry, as most studies have only been conducted with White, African American, and Latinx adolescents. General strain theory, social control theory, and social learning theory guided the selection of the risk and protective factors examined in this study. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk and protective factors associated with general strain theory, social control theory, and social learning theory that are predictive of White, African American, Latinx, Native American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and multiracial adolescents’ past 30-day and lifetime prescription drug misuse. Using data from the Arizona Youth Survey (N = 34,899; aged 12–19 years), a series of multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the risk and protective factors predictive of 30-day and lifetime prescription drug misuse for the whole sample and the six racial/ethnic groups. The results indicated that the risk and protective factors varied across racial/ethnic groups, with White and Latinx adolescents having the most risk factors associated with general strain theory for both 30-day and lifetime prescription drug misuse. Social control theory and social learning theory were helpful in identifying protective factors across the racial/ethnic groups. Implications of these theories for prevention efforts are discussed. Future research should examine how all the components of social control theory and nonsocial reinforcement, a component of social learning theory, are related to prescription drug misuse across all racial/ethnic groups included in this study.