Comparison of African-American adolescent crack cocaine users and nonusers: Background factors in drug use and HIV sexual risk behaviors.

58 African-American male and female adolescents (aged 13–18 yrs) were recruited by street outreach in San Francisco. By self-report, 22 were crack users; 36 were noncrack users. What appeared to distinguish noncrack users from crack users prior to their drug use was the long-term quality of family, peer, and community interactions. Before initiating crack use, users were more likely to spend holidays alone or with friends than with their immediate or extended family. Users were less likely to recall pleasant childhood memories and were more likely to have begun sex with casual rather than steady partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)