Researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health are pioneers in a new field of study. Mailman researchers, with the help of colleagues from the Universities of Minnesota, Alabama (Birmingham), California (San Francisco), and Harvard University, conducted one of the first studies linking racial discrimination to health-risk behavior.

According to a press release from Mailman on Aug. 20, the study concludes that African Americans exposed to racial discrimination are more likely to report instances of substance abuse such as recent alcohol consumption, current use of tobacco, and lifelong use of cocaine and marijuana. The release suggests that substance abuse is a method for coping with the trauma associated with racial discrimination.

These connections differed by race. While whites who reported discrimination—38 percent of those surveyed—turned to substance abuse and felt that they had less control over their lives, they also reported that they had less education and income than those who were not discriminated against. On the other hand, African Americans who reported experiencing racial discrimination—89 percent—said they achieved higher levels of education and were socioeconomically superior.

In the release, Luisa Borrell, D.D.S., Ph.D. of the Mailman School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology and principal investigator of the study, attributed these racial differences to the fact that educated African Americans were perhaps, “exposed to situations in which they are discriminated, or they may be more aware of subtle forms of discrimination.” The release goes on to note that in contrast, white people on the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum are exposed to environments in which they are the racial minority.

The age range and precision of the research allowed the researchers to draw even more conclusions. “Our findings that current use of marijuana was not related to discrimination and that risk of being a former smoker was increased suggest that, by early middle age (average age, 40 years), people may have found other ways to cope. However, the finding of an excess of current smoking in this population, suggest that this addictive habit may be long lasting, even when alternative coping behaviors are adopted,” Borrell said in the release.