Youth Who Witnessed Violence Had Stronger Positive Expectations About Cannabis

Across all neighborhood types, youth who witnessed violence had elevated positive cannabis expectancies (betas: 0.20-0.38). Living in more advantaged neighborhoods modestly weakened this association. The effect was consistent across Black, Latinx, and White youth.

Cross-sectional analysis of 7,332 youth from Follow-up 3 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, using the MEEQ-B for cannabis expectancies and the Area Deprivation Index for neighborhood context. General linear models adjusted for socioeconomic indicators.

Expectations about drug effects predict future use, especially before youth have actually tried substances. Understanding that violence exposure shapes these expectations, even in early adolescence, provides a specific target for early prevention efforts.

This connects two important public health issues: community violence and adolescent substance use risk. The finding that neighborhood advantage provides modest but not complete protection suggests that individual-level interventions for violence-exposed youth may be needed regardless of where they live.

Cross-sectional design cannot determine whether violence exposure causes changes in expectancies. Self-reported violence exposure may be subject to recall bias. Cannabis expectancies do not necessarily predict actual use. The ABCD sample, while large, may not capture the most violence-exposed youth.