Time horizons and substance use among African American youths living in disadvantaged urban areas ☆ JeeWon Cheong ⁎ ,1 , Jalie A. Tucker 1 , Cathy A. Simpson 1 , Susan D. Chandler 1 University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior, 1665 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA HIGHLIGHTS • Time horizons and drug use among disadvantaged African American urban youths were examined. • Substance use was related to greater present pleasure/reward-seeking orientation. • Substance use was related to lower tendency to plan and achieve future goals. • Delay discounting was not significantly related to substance use. • Results support interventions aimed at lengthening time perspectives. abstract article info Keywords: Substance use Delay discounting Time perspectives Respondent driven sampling Emerging adulthood African Americans Transitioning from adolescence to full-fledged adulthood is often challenging, and young people who live in dis- advantaged urban neighborhoods face additional obstacles and experience disproportionately higher negative outcomes, including substance abuse and related risk behaviors. This study investigated whether substance use among African Americans ages 15 to 25 (M = 18.86 years) living in such areas was related to present- dominated time perspectives and higher delay discounting. Participants (N = 344, 110 males, 234 females) liv- ing in Deep South disadvantaged urban neighborhoods were recruited using Respondent Driven Sampling, an improved peer-referral sampling method suitable for accessing this hard-to-reach target group. Structured field interviews assessed alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use and risk/protective factors, including time perspec- tives (Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory [ZTPI]) and behavioral impulsivity (delay discounting task). As pre- dicted, substance use was positively related to a greater ZTPI orientation toward present pleasure and a lower tendency to plan and achieve future goals. Although the sample as a whole showed high discounting of delayed rewards, discount rates did not predict substance use. The findings suggest that interventions to lengthen time perspectives and promote enriched views of future possible selves may prevent and reduce substance use among disadvantaged youths. Discontinuities among the discounting and time perspective variables in relation to substance use merit further investigation. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction The years spanning adolescence to young adulthood comprise a dis- tinctive developmental period, often termed emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000, 2007). Many youths in the United States finish secondary school and move on to higher education, employment, or both. They may leave the parental home, change residences frequently, and often reach legal adult age without adult responsibilities. While this period offers a time of life exploration before settling into adult roles, it also is the developmental stage when substance use and other risk behaviors are higher (Arnett, 2005; Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2012). For example, national survey data (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2011) showed higher rates of current use of tobacco (40.8%), illicit drug (21.5%), and alcohol (ages 18–20: 48.9%; 21–25: 70.0%) among 18 to 25 year olds compared to all other age groups. While risk-taking is common during emerging adulthood, individual differences exist in the extent of substance use and other risky behaviors and in the resulting problem severity (Zimbardo, Keough, & Boyd, 1997). Converging research using different conceptual frameworks and methods suggests that individual differences in sensitivity to delayed outcomes, reflecting the time horizons over which behavior is organized, may be a Addictive Behaviors 39 (2014) 818–823 ☆ This research was supported in part by CDC cooperative agreement 5U48DP001915 awarded to the UAB Prevention Research Center. Portions of the research were presented at the Division 28/Division 50 Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction Conference, Atlanta, GA, May 2013. ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. Tel.: +1 205 975 8030; fax: +1 205 934 9325. E-mail addresses: jcheong@uab.edu (J. Cheong), jtucker@uab.edu (J.A. Tucker), csimpson@uab.edu (C.A. Simpson), schandler@uab.edu (S.D. Chandler). 1 Telephone: +1 205 975 8030/Fax: +1 205 934 9325. 0306-4603/$ – see front matter © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.12.016 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Addictive Behaviors