The association between housing instability and cannabis, nicotine, alcohol use. The role of
internal and external assets.

Christina Pulley, MPH(c)1*, Mikaela Rojas, MPH†, Natasha De Silva, MPH, Rasmey Gomez, MPH, Serbin Cruzada, MPH(c ), Christopher Rogers, PhD, MPH, Myriam Forster, PhD, MPH
California State University, Northridge (CSUN)

Introduction: Youth substance use rises with housing instability, a distal risk that disrupts
supervision, coping, and structure. Internal assets (future orientation, self-regulation) predict
lower use, whereas external assets (monitoring and adult support) show variable, indirect
protection; effects differ by substance. This study tests instability in a school sample, separating
cannabis and nicotine—where risk is stronger—from alcohol, and contrasts internal versus
external assets as moderators to identify which levers offset risk.

Methods: Data are baseline survey responses (N=2,360) of high school students, participating in
a longitudinal school-based study. GLM’s tested the hypothesized associations between housing
instability and adolescents’ substance use (alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine), adjusting for age, sex,
state, and ethnicity. We also explored whether internal and external assets offset the negative
effects of housing instability and substance use.

Results: The sample was 52% Female and on average 15.8 (SD=1.9) years old. Approximately
31% Non-Hispanic White, followed by African American (29%), Hispanic (24%), Multi-Ethnic
(9%), and Asian (7%). 1 in 8 students reported experiencing housing instability (12%), (23%)
reported use of alcohol (16%), reported cannabis use, and (9%) nicotine use. Adolescents who
experience housing instability have higher odds of nicotine use (AOR: 2.06, 95%CI: 1.25, 3.41),
cannabis use (AOR: 1.57, 95%CI: 1.01, 2.45), but not alcohol use (AOR: 1.21, 95%CI: 0.80,
1.82) compared to their peers with housing stability. Conversely, adolescents with housing
instability but have high internal assets have lower risk of cannabis use than their peers with low
internal assets (p<0.05). But not nicotine use. External assets did not play a role in these
relationships.

Conclusion: Housing instability increased cannabis and nicotine—but not alcohol—use. Internal
assets buffered cannabis risk; external assets did not. Prioritize housing support plus asset-
building for cannabis and cessation strategies for nicotine; test pathways longitudinally.