# PITTSBURGH GIRLS STUDY: SUBSTANCE USE AND HIV RISK BEHAVIORS/STI IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD

> **NIH NIH R01** · RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL/HEALTH SCIENCES-RBHS · 2020 · $391,545

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Effective prevention of substance misuse and related harms, such as HIV risk behaviors and sexually
transmitted infection (STI), for females depends critically on identifying mechanisms underlying these adverse
health outcomes. To address this gap, the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS) renewal aims to identify female-
specific personal and social environmental mechanisms of risk and resilience underlying the course of
substance use and substance use disorder (SUD), HIV risk behaviors, and STI through age 25, given that
these outcomes peak through this age. PGS is a large longitudinal community-based study of females
(N=2,451; 52% Black, 41% White), with assessments starting in childhood (ages 5-8), that is uniquely
positioned to identify mechanisms of risk and resilience underlying the course of SUD and health outcomes
(e.g., STI), and how these mechanisms may differ for Black and White females. The proposed renewal will
support annual assessments of substance use/SUD, physical (e.g., STI) and mental health conditions, and
personal (e.g., cognition) and environmental (e.g., neighborhood conditions) mechanisms of risk and
resilience, through age 25 in all four PGS age cohorts. The renewal aims to: (1) identify processes that explain
higher rates of certain types of substance use (e.g., cigarettes), among White, compared to Black, females; (2)
determine mechanisms by which substance use is associated with HIV risk behaviors, STI, and unintended
pregnancy; and (3) test mechanisms through which substance use affects and is affected by young adult
developmental transitions (e.g., parenthood). The project also will explore how cognitive functioning, substance
use, and HIV risk behaviors are linked over time in young adulthood. The design of PGS is innovative in its
focus on females, who are understudied relative to males; a sampling strategy that permits examination of
racial differences in mechanisms of risk and resilience underlying SUD, and racial disparities in health
outcomes among Black and White females; and use of cutting-edge statistical methods to reveal interactions
between individual, environmental, and developmental factors that influence SUD course and young adult
outcomes. Results have implications for developing multi-level strength-based interventions targeting personal
and environmental risk and resilience mechanisms at specific points in time, given that intervention at one
level, or at a single time point, will have limited impact. PGS renewal activities will generate a female-specific
developmental model of personal and environmental mechanisms of risk and resilience underlying substance
use and health outcomes, which may differ for Black and White females. This innovative model will be used to
specify “what” intervention content, delivered at which level (individual, community), should be given “when”
and “to whom” to effectively prevent substance misuse and promote healthy development in young women.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10136341
- **Project number:** 7R01DA012237-20
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL/HEALTH SCIENCES-RBHS
- **Principal Investigator:** Tammy Chung
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $391,545
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2020-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10136341

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10136341, PITTSBURGH GIRLS STUDY: SUBSTANCE USE AND HIV RISK BEHAVIORS/STI IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD (7R01DA012237-20). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10136341. Licensed CC0.

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