Assessing the Relevance of Exposure to Violence as a Predictor of Cocaine/Crack Use: Delineating Witnessed Violence and Direct Victimization and Testing for Developmental Differences

Exposure to violence has been found to predict cocaine use, but evidence is limited in terms of how different forms of exposure to violence impact use and how the relevance of these relationships may vary across adolescence and emerging adulthood. This study tested for differential salience of witnessed violence and direct victimization predictors of cocaine use during adolescence and emerging adulthood. The present study analyzed data from all waves of the Pathways to Desistance study. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to assess whether either form of exposure to violence influenced cocaine use and whether that influence was more or less salient in adolescence versus emerging adulthood. Results indicated that only direct victimization significantly influenced cocaine use. This effect demonstrated a quadratic growth pattern; first diminishing in salience in its impact on cocaine use when experienced throughout adolescence and then becoming more salient when experienced during emerging adulthood.