Research Paper Title

Spillover Effects of Job Skills Training on Substance Misuse Among Low-Income Youths With Employment Barriers: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Background

To examine spillover effects of job skills training (vs basic services only [e.g. adult basic education, job readiness training]) on substance misuse among low-income youths with employment barriers.

Methods

Data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a longitudinal cohort study of youths born between 1980 and 1984 in the United States.

Based on respondents’ reports of substance misuse (past-month binge drinking and past-year marijuana and other illicit drug use) from 2000 to 2016, the researchers estimated substance misuse trajectories of job skills training (n = 317) and basic services (n = 264) groups.

They accounted for potential selection bias by using inverse probability of treatment weighting.

Results

Compared with the basic services group, the job skills training group showed notable long-term reductions in its illicit drug misuse trajectory, translating to a 56.9% decrease in prevalence rates from 6.5% in year 0 to 2.8% in year 16.

Conclusions

Job skills training can be an important service component for reducing substance misuse and improving employment outcomes among youths with economic disadvantages and employment barriers.

Reference

Oh, S., DiNitto, D.M. & Powers, D.A. (2020) Spillover Effects of Job Skills Training on Substance Misuse Among Low-Income Youths With Employment Barriers: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. American Journal of Public Health. 110(6), pp.900-906. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305631. Epub 2020 Apr 16.