Drug (Ab)Use Research Among Rural African American Males: An Integrated Literature Review

Little is known about the cultural norms and prevalence of drug use and abuse among rural African American males. Rural drug use research among males tends to focus on Native American, white, or diverse racial/ethnic samples of adolescents and, to a much lesser extent, white adult males, with almost no targeting of African American males. Therefore, an extensive search of published literature on drug use among rural African American males was undertaken to identify and summarize the published research related to drug use among this population, with the ultimate goal of delineating research gaps warranting future investigation. Findings revealed that most studies focused on adolescents and children, often using national data sets, and were descriptive. Those that targeted adults frequently analyzed demographics for respondents who were rural, male, and/or African American, although all three characteristics were usually not reported in combination. Of these studies, the percentage of African American males varied, usually being the largest minority subgroup but still a relatively small percentage of each sample. Results specific to rural African American adult males are rarely reported in these studies. Recommendations for the direction of future drug use research among rural African American males are offered, and research gaps are identified. © 2006 by the Men\u27s Studies Press, LLC. All rights reserved