The protective effects of ethnic identity for alcohol and marijuana use among Black young adults

This study examined the extent to which individual differences in alcohol and marijuana use among 167 Black university students could be accounted for by degree of ethnic identity. After controlling for year in school, sex, and friends' substance use, higher levels of ethnic identity indeed were found to be significantly related to lower beer/hard liquor use, wine use, and marijuana use, accounting for approximately 31%, 6%, and 4% of the variance, respectively. For marijuana use, however, friends' substance use accounted for more of the variance (13%) than did ethnic identity (4%).