Neighborhood violence tied to earlier alcohol/tobacco start among teens

October 24, 2025 - Brandon Drain

MSU researchers link higher violence exposure to earlier substance use initiation in a Denver cohort study.

A new study led by MSU Social Work professor Anna Maria Santiago finds that teens in higher-violence neighborhoods start alcohol and tobacco earlier and at higher rates than their peers.

Using data from roughly 1,100 Latino/a and African American adolescents in Denver, CO, the team found heightened exposure to neighborhood violence increased the hazards of alcohol use initiation by 32% for all adolescents and 38% for adolescent males in particular.

The risk of starting tobacco use was about 36% higher overall and 30% to 50% higher in some groups, including African American teens.

“Adolescent alcohol and tobacco use have been linked to adverse preventable adolescent and adult behavioral and physical health outcomes over the life course,” said Santiago, with some of those negative outcomes include increased risky sexual behavior, sexual victimization, as well as dependency on those substances.

The team noted that stress and feeling unsafe can push some teens to try alcohol or cigarettes sooner as a coping strategy.

“These heightened perceptions of danger or feeling unsafe trigger psychological reactions such as stress, which in turn, may lead to initiating the use of tobacco (by all subgroups of adolescents) as a way of coping,” the team noted.

This community focused approach to the study also requires a community focused method for prevention.

One of the key challenges facing communities is, “Providing all adolescents the opportunity to live in healthy and safe neighborhoods and homes offering supportive environments throughout childhood and into adulthood,” the team said. “Designing opportunity-rich housing and neighborhoods is crucial to ensuring that disadvantaged teens gain better access to places that enhance their opportunities over the life course,” they continued.

Violence prevention requires the creation of safe public spaces, with prosocial activities that enhance neighborhood safety.

“Neighborhood youth clubs, sports teams, community centers, and parks may serve as powerful deterrents to substance use initiation among adolescents,” the team said.