Substance use profiles among gang-involved youth: Social ecology implications for service approaches

•Substance use is a frequently cited health risk behavior for gang-involved youth.•Clarifying variation in use patterns is critical for relevant and effective services.•Latent class analysis identified four distinct substance use groups of gang-involved youth.•Social norms and use in peer, family and neighborhood contexts differentiated groups.•Service approaches should be responsive to individual needs and environmental contexts. Substance use is a frequently cited health risk behavior in the youth gang literature, yet little is known about how substance use experiences vary among gang-involved youth. Developing relevant and effective service approaches will require an understanding of this variation and the contextual factors that are likely to influence particular patterns of use. Using latent class analysis, we identified four substance use classes within a school-based sample of gang-involved youth (n = 2,770): Non-Users (38%), Past Users (15%), Casual Users (27%), and Frequent Multi-Users (21%). These classes were distinguished by substance type, frequency of use, and source of access. Demographic and substance use-specific ecological factors across the family, peer, school, and neighborhood contexts were found to significantly differentiate these classes. Specifically, acceptance of use by parents, friends, and neighbors, along with a lack of family rules and high accessibility in the neighborhood, significantly differentiated use patterns. Findings highlight the need for service approaches that are responsive to both the unique needs of individual gang-involved youth and their environments. Implications for practice are discussed, including the potential utility of a harm reduction service framework to address the spectrum of youth gang substance use.