Family History and its relation to Alcohol and Illicit Drug use amongst College Students and African Americans at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
In ancient times, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were among postsecondary institutions of learning that were introduced in the 1800s with the objective of presenting African Americans with the opportunity of accessing higher learning. A significant number of African Americans found it extremely difficult to access higher learning since they were largely preoccupied with servitude positions before the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877) in the history of the United States. Historically Black Colleges and Universities have continued with the representation of a rich legacy about the background of education for African Americans (Challenor, 2002). However, it is worth pointing out that most of these institutions are presently faced with a myriad of challenges including financial constraints and indulgence in alcohol drinking and illicit drug use by students who comprise African Americans. Previous research has been able to show the manner in which HBCUs have always tried to culturally and academically black students from diverse family backgrounds across the United States (Uwakonye and Osho, 2012). Many researchers have continued to put more emphasis on the role of family history among other factors about the increasing prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use among college students. Taplin, Saddichha, and Krausz (2014) indicate that a family is an important unit in the socialization process since it assists in the selective acquisition of values, attitudes, knowledge and motives displayed by young people towards alcohol and illicit drugs. Generally, the family is regarded as a critical fundamental unit that determines the nature and level of socialization experienced by an individual. To that extent, family history is believed to have a crucial role to play in influencing the likelihood of African Americans at historically black colleges and universities to indulge in alcohol and illicit drug use.
The observations made by Pilatti et al. (2013) indicate that family history of an individual could be used in the determination of the kind of social values that are usually passed from one generation to another. In this case, the behavioral values and tendencies associated with drinking and use of illicit drugs seen among students at African Americans at historically black colleges and universities could have been passed from to them owing to the value system in their families. Having experienced numerous incidences of racism and discrimination, the historical background of most African American families is largely associated with instabilities. To that extent, there are high tendencies for children from such families who are presently in colleges and universities to develop a defiant pattern of behavior as explained by Compton et al. (2002). The socialization processes of this group of students are considerably impacted by the history of the families especially when racism and discrimination against the blacks were rampant in the United States. Some studies have pointed out that initial alcohol and illicit drug use among young people in colleges and universities are largely linked to the historical values that the families have continued to espouse (Gasman & Abiola, 2015). Young people who are brought up in intact families that are strongly guided by religious values and obedience to various laws and regulations have a lower likelihood of engaging in the consumption of alcohol and use of the illicit drug even when they are under pressure from their peers. Lewis & Wahesh (2015) found that young people in colleges and universities who were involved in heavy drinking or excessive use of illicit drugs were struggling with issues related to the historical instabilities in the families. Research conducted by Kapner (2003) on young African Americans studying in historically Black colleges and universities revealed some reasons why they are more likely to find themselves indulging in alcohol drinking or use of illicit drugs.
Further, the research established that some of the variables that had the strongest association with this kind of behavior included parental approval and historical family background among others. Studies have been able to indicate that the existing high tendencies of alcohol and drug-related homicides to occur in communities where the majority of residents are young African Americans. This could also be attributable to the common trend that is often displayed by African Americans at historically black colleges and universities about alcohol and illicit drugs consumption. Such communities are characterized by disagreements and arguments that happen among family members, disagreements and hurting of feelings at the scenes of gambling, fight in the streets, quarrels among friends and muggings as well as physical and psychological pains among others. The claim by Messina, Tseng, and Correia (2015) indicates that alcohol and illicit drug abuse among African American studying in historically black colleges and universities has its roots in the historical, cultural patterns and American slavery that were established at the time of racial segregation. Although African American are not highly likely to use illicit drugs, discrimination and racism have made them more vulnerable. As a way of trying to make adjustments about the plights associated with their historical backgrounds, most African Americans have often shown the tendency of settling on alcohol and illicit drugs as a means of escaping from physical and psychological pain or facilitating social interaction and recreation (Kapner, 2003).
Family history is potentially a factor of consideration in the examination and evaluation of the African American college students with the tendency of using alcohol and illicit drugs. According to the findings by Kendler et al. (2015), family history in alcohol and illicit drug use may play a considerable role as one of the determinants in the extent to which college students indulge in these vices. Recent studies have been able to establish that practices associated with alcohol drinking and use of illicit drugs among college students may be influenced by prior experience and history of the family. In the examination of the drinking practices among college students, it was established that family history had a considerable role to play as one of the influencing factors (Uwakonye and Osho, 2012). Over the last couple of years, the tendency of alcohol and illicit drug use among students in colleges within the United States has continued to attract attention and widespread concerns.
Moreover, studies have shown that young people pursuing their studies at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU's) and African-American are more vulnerable to drinking and use of the illicit drug than those in colleges and universities that are predominantly white. Lewis and Wahesh (2015) observe that HBCUs’ focus and emphasis on the development of character among their students have recorded significant successes towards the reduction in the rates of alcohol drinking and illicit drug use in these learning institutions. Other factors like strong religious affiliation among some of the students these institutions of learning have been critical towards the lowering the rates of illicit drug use and alcohol drinking. Nonetheless, a study conducted by O’hara et al. (2015) on about 15,000 students revealed that close to 15% of African-American students were indulging in alcohol drinking and consumption of illicit drugs compared to about 11% of White students.
On the contrary, other studies have been able to come up with different statistics concerning the issue of drinking and use of illicit drugs among African Americans at HBCUs. In this respect, it has been found that African Americans have shown a lower tendency of drinking and consumption of drugs compared to the White students (Challenor, 2002). The findings of other studies addressing a similar perspective have indicated that African Americans at HBCUs consume alcohol in smaller quantities and less frequently than their White colleagues in the same learning institutions. A survey conducted by Gasman and Abiola (2015) three different HBCUs within North Carolina revealed that about 10% of males and 8% of females were involved in heavy drinking owing to a wide range of reasons including peer pressure, depression, and family history. A few decades ago studies showed that slightly more than 20 percent of black students in HBCUs were involved in alcohol drinking and use of illicit drugs at least five times within two weeks (Messina, Tseng & Correia, 2015).
Further, the studies established that the environment played a considerable role in influencing the extent to which students at HBCUs were either drinking alcohol or using illicit drugs. A research was conducted by Pilatti et al. (2013) to investigate the relationship between increasing rates of illicit drug use and the associated family history. In this regard, the analysis focused on the examination of the prevalence of problems emanating from alcohol and drug use through a Family History Assessment Module. The findings of this study showed the existence of a link between participants' alcoholism tendencies and first degree family members' alcohol-related problems. Additional risks for other family members about alcoholism were noted for those indulging in alcohol drinking. Additionally, the parental prevalence of problems related to alcoholism was found to be more when participants had addictions to other illicit drugs (Taplin, Saddichha & Krausz, 2014).
Researchers and scholars working towards the investigation of ways in which family history could influence the likelihood of addiction to alcohol and illicit drugs by college students have been able to establish the existence of a genetically complex factor. To this extent, studies have identified a number of some genes and associated variations among them that may be linked to the process of addiction. Hayes (2005) was able to identify several variations within genes that have a significant role to play in influencing the addictive process. One of such ways is largely concerned with the manner in which genes are used in the process of metabolizing alcohol. Another one is concerned with the functionality of different nerve signals with the human body as well as the regulation of these signals. Scientists have established that there exists a substantial possibility that such genes and their changes could be passed down from parents to their children. Perhaps the most crucial consideration regarding evidence that points towards the role of hereditary in alcohol and drug addiction could be found in adoption and twin studies (Toumbourou, 2004). Studies among twins have been able to demonstrate that a 60 percent rate of similarity may be established concerning addiction in identical twins.
Further, a rate of 39 percent similarity regarding addiction is found in fraternal twins. Studies of children who are adopted during infancy stages and those concerning risks of addiction during adulthood showed that biological sons of people involved in heavy drinking and drug use had a higher likelihood of becoming alcoholics. In that case, genetic predisposition could be considered as one of the factors that are likely to predict the role of family history in influencing alcohol and illicit drug use among students in colleges (Kendler et al., 2015).
Young people, especially African Americans in higher institutions of learning in the United States and across the globe are facing a heightened risk for alcohol consumption and substance use. African Americans in most colleges often experience unique problems that increase the level of their vulnerability to drinking and use of illicit drugs. Alcohol drinking and substance use are some of the most critical challenges that face students, especially African Americans at historically black colleges and universities in the United States today. For decades now, alcohol and drug use among students in colleges across the United States has remained a major concern (Lewis & Wahesh, 2015). Even though the use of illicit drugs might be considered as a normative component in college and campus experience, most students are likely to slide into heavy drinking and excessive use of those drugs. The link between family history and a higher likelihood of illicit drug consumption and excessive drinking of alcohol is a subject that calls for additional studies. Some studies have indicated that a gender-related influence could be attached to this link. This is because male students have been able to exhibit a higher relative vulnerability to alcohol and drug use than female students. The analysis by Pfinder, Liebig and Feldmann (2013) led to the finding that the history of a family about alcohol and drug-related problems contributed towards a considerable increase in alcohol drinking among both female and male students in historically black colleges and universities. Researchers have continued to examine the role of family history in determining the early onset of using illicit drugs and drinking of alcohol as well as later behaviors about substance addiction. Specifically, some of them have gone to the extent of analyzing some potential interactive effects of alcohol drinking and drug use at the onset of joining campus and family history about previous patterns of drinking among family members (Pfinder, Liebig & Feldmann, 2013).
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