Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Injection drug use among youth is a significant public health concern that is associated with severe harms among youth including, fatal drug overdose, violence, and risk of HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) incidence. However, initiation of injection drug use among early injecting careers remains understudied. While there is growing recognition that contextual factors play a central role in determining youth's high-risk drug using behaviors, little is known about initiation into injecting, early injecting careers, and potential interventions that may help prevent initiation into injecting. Furthermore, our understanding of factors that determine early cessation or predict sustained injecting among recent initiates remains very limited. Therefore, this study proposes to employ longitudinal data analyses to characterize early injecting careers, with a focus on the individual (e.g., childhood trauma, drug use patterns) and social-structural (e.g., homelessness, incarceration) factors that shape injection initiation, early cessation of injecting, and sustained injecting. Findings of this study are essential to developing meaningful and effective policy and program interventions that seek to prevent early injecting careers from progressing to sustained injecting.