Stress and African American Women’s Smoking/Drinking to Cope

Abstract

Associations of urban poverty-related stress with smoking and drinking to cope and the moderating role of kin social support were assessed in African American women. Findings revealed that among a sample of 101 poor African American women residing in economically and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods, depressive symptoms and relationship stress were significantly associated with smoking. Similarly, perceptions of neighborhood crime were marginally associated with alcohol use. Kinship support was hypothesized to buffer women from the deleterious impacts of stress. The results revealed that kin social support moderated the association of poverty-related stress with smoking and drinking. For women with higher levels of kin support, the positive association of neighborhood crime and drinking was less apparent compared with women with low support. Also, the links between relationship stress, depressive symptoms, and smoking were less apparent for women with higher kin support compared with those with lower support. Findings are discussed in terms of the need for additional research on the social networks available to economically disadvantaged African American families and the manner in which networks operate.