Ethnic and gender differences in risk for early adolescent substance use

Gender Identity, Ethnicity, Acculturation, and Drug Use: Exploring Differences among Adolescents in the Southwest

This article presents the findings of a survey completed by 1351 predominantly Mexican American middle school students residing in a large urban center in the U.S. Southwest. The study explores possible associations between drug use attitudes and behaviors and gender (biological sex), gender identity, ethnicity, and acculturation status. Based on the concepts of "machismo" and "marianismo" that have been used to describe Mexican populations, four dimensions of gender identity were measured: aggressive masculinity, assertive masculinity, affective femininity, and submissive femininity. In explaining a variety of indicators of drug use behaviors and anti-drug norms, gender alone had limited explanatory power, while gender identity-often regardless of gender-was a better predictor. Aggressive masculinity was generally associated with higher risk of drug use, while the other three gender identity measures had selected protective effects. However, the impact of gender identity was strongly mediated by acculturation. Less acculturated Mexican American students reported lower aggressive masculinity scores than non-Latinos. Less acculturated Mexican American girls reported both the lowest aggressive masculinity scores and the highest submissive femininity scores. More acculturated Mexican American students, along with the less acculturated Mexican American boys, did not appear to be following a polarized approach to gender identity (machismo and marianismo) as was expected. The findings suggest that some aspects of culturally prescribed gender roles can have a protective effect against drug use behaviors and attitudes, possibly for both girls and boys.

Sense of Belonging in School as a Protective Factor Against Drug Abuse Among Native American Urban Adolescents

This article presents the results of a study conducted with 243 Native American students who were part of a multi-ethnic sample of adolescents attending middle school in a large urban center in the Southwest region of the United States. Native adolescents who felt a stronger sense of belonging in their school were found to report a lower lifetime use of alcohol and cigarettes, lower cigarette and marijuana use in the previous month, lower frequency of current use of these substances, fewer substances ever used, and a later age of initiation into drug use than other Native students. Research implications are discussed in relationship to school environment, culturally-grounded prevention curricula, and school social work practice.

Attitude and peer influences on adolescent substance use: the moderating effect of age, sex, and substance

Many studies have suggested the importance of peer influence and personal attitudes (e.g., expectancies, resistance self-efficacy, and perceived harm) in predicting adolescent use of illegal substances. The present study examined these variables in relation to self-reported use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana for 213 younger adolescents (12-15 years old) and 219 older adolescents (18-22 years old). A series of logistic regressions was performed to assess variables relating to use of each substance by age group and gender. Friends' use was significantly related to substance use for both age groups, both sexes, and all substances examined in this study. Perceived harm was not significantly related to use for any group. Finally, outcome expectancies and resistance self-efficacy were differentially related to use depending on age, gender, and substance. The implications of these findings for prevention programming and future research are also discussed.

Attitudinal and normative predictors of alcohol use by older adolescents and young adults

A model of alcohol use based on the theory of planned behavior, expectancy theory, and the developmental literature on the influence of parents and peers was examined with 87 eleventh grade students, 105 college freshmen, and 107 college juniors. Specifically, the influence of attitudes about the positive and negative consequences of drinking, perceived parental and peer norms about alcohol consumption, and perceived control over drinking predicted self-reported alcohol use. The results suggest that, during adolescence, decisions to consume alcohol are rational, based on the consideration of the positive consequences of alcohol use and perceptions of control over drinking; however, the negative consequences of alcohol use are discounted. While perceived peer norms predicted alcohol consumption in all three age groups, the influence of perceived parental norms varied such that they predicted alcohol use only among the college juniors. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Parents' monitoring-relevant knowledge and adolescents' delinquent behavior: evidence of correlated developmental changes and reciprocal influences

Links between parental knowledge and adolescent delinquent behavior were tested for correlated rates of developmental change and reciprocal associations. For 4 years beginning at age 14, adolescents (N = 396) reported on their delinquent behavior and on their parents' knowledge of their whereabouts and activities. Parents completed measures of their adolescents' delinquent behavior. Knowledge was negatively correlated with delinquent behaviors at baseline, and increases over time in knowledge were negatively correlated with increases in parent-reported delinquent behavior. Reciprocal associations indicate that low levels of parental knowledge predict increases in delinquent behavior and that high levels of delinquent behavior predict decreases in knowledge. Discussion considers both youth-driven and parent-driven processes that may account for the correlated developmental changes and reciprocal associations.

The moderation of adolescent-to-peer similarity in tobacco and alcohol use by school levels of substance use

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined the impact of school-level smoking and drinking on adolescent-peer similarity for smoking and drinking. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that adolescent-peer similarity was significantly moderated by school-level substance use for both tobacco and alcohol use. For tobacco, similarity between adolescent and peer use increased from .18 in the lower quartile of tobacco-using schools to .44 in the upper quartile of tobacco-using schools. Corresponding similarities for alcohol use ranged from .25 to .34. These results suggest that schools with relatively few substance-using peers provide less opportunities for adolescents to pick niches that expose them to risk factors that correspond to their own substance-use behaviors.

Keepin' it R.E.A.L.: a drug resistance curriculum tailored to the strengths and needs of pre-adolescents of the southwest

Research has shown that students respond more favorably to drug prevention programs when they see their culture and themselves represented in the prevention message. Additionally, studies highlight important ethnic differences in drug behaviors and attitudes, indicating that students' ethnic culture should be considered in the creation of prevention programs. Because there are few effective, culturally grounded programs, new approaches are needed, particularly among Mexican American youth. This need inspired the Drug Resistance Strategies Project (DRS) to develop and test the keepin' it R.E.A.L curriculum serving ethnically diverse seventh grade students residing in a large southwestern city. This article describes development of the keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum, focusing on the methods used to ensure cultural grounding. The article also reviews literature on cultural approaches in prevention, presents a theoretical framework, summarizes key outcomes of the curriculum evaluation, and concludes with recommendations for the development of prevention programs for ethnically diverse youth.

The relationship between the consumption of various drugs by adolescents and their academic achievement

This study uses the NELS data set to assess the relationship between adolescent patterns of the consumption of marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and cigarette consumption and their academic achievement. The results of the study indicate that increased frequency of cigarette smoking and being under the influence of marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol did frequently have an impact on adolescent academic achievement. When all types of drug consumption were considered together, cigarette smoking, being drunk, and under the influence of alcohol while at school were the variables that produced the most consistent statistically significant effects. Being under the influence of cocaine generally produced the largest regression coefficients, but the effects were often not statistically significant, which may in part be due to the small portion of students who reported being under the influence of cocaine while at school. When examined separately, being under the influence of cocaine and marijuana each had consistently statistically significant effects on academic achievement.

Gender, perceived parental monitoring, and behavioral adjustment: influences on adolescent alcohol use

This study examined relationships among gender, perceived parental monitoring, externalizing behaviors, and adolescent alcohol use in a 2-wave longitudinal study. Females reported more perceived parental monitoring and less alcohol use than males. Perceived maternal and paternal monitoring were related to less alcohol use over time. Increases in alcohol use were associated with increases in externalizing behaviors over time. Perceived maternal monitoring mediated the relationship between gender and youth drinking and was also a significant predictor of changes in adolescent drinking over time. Perceived paternal monitoring was not a predictor of adolescent drinking in the context of perceived maternal monitoring and externalizing behaviors. The importance of gender in implementation of prevention programs is discussed.

Depressive symptoms at the age of 12 years and future heavy alcohol use

OBJECTIVE

To study the relationships between depressive and psychosomatic symptoms at the age of 12 years and heavy use of alcohol 3 years later, and to determine whether certain depressive symptoms are more predictive than others in regard to later heavy alcohol use.

METHODS

The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) with added questions concerning psychosomatic symptoms and bullying was used to reveal psychiatric symptoms among children at the age of 12 years. Information concerning alcohol use was obtained from the children at the age of 15 years.

RESULTS

Disordered mood at the age of 12 years was not related to heavy alcohol use at the age of 15 years. Perceiving oneself as failing to perform well at school and low self-esteem at the age of 12 years were related to heavy use of alcohol 3 years later among girls, as were interpersonal problems with aggressive tendencies among boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Further studies are urgently needed to determine the relationships between the expectations of the school system and deviant behaviors such as substance use among dysphoric children.

Evaluating the effects of a peer support programme on adolescents' knowledge, attitudes and use of alcohol and tobacco

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of a peer support programme on adolescents' knowledge, attitudes and use of alcohol and tobacco. Year 7 students (average age 12 years) from three schools who offered the programme (n = 169) and from three schools without the programme (n = 157) completed a self-report assessment. Perceptions of their parents' and friends' use of alcohol and tobacco and attitudes towards the participants' use of these substances as well as the participants' own attitudes (preferences and norms) and use of the substances were assessed on three occasions; pre-intervention, post-intervention and at 6 months follow-up. There were no significant effects of the programme on participants' knowledge, attitudes and use of alcohol and tobacco. Over time, participants in both groups reported increased enjoyment of alcohol, increased use of alcohol and tobacco and more lenient attitudes towards these substances. In conclusion, the peer support programme failed to show any positive influence on adolescents' knowledge, attitudes and use of alcohol and tobacco.

Outcomes in young adulthood for very-low-birth-weight infants

BACKGROUND

Very-low-birth-weight infants (those weighing less than 1500 g) born during the initial years of neonatal intensive care have now reached young adulthood.

METHODS

We compared a cohort of 242 survivors among very-low-birth-weight infants born between 1977 and 1979 (mean birth weight, 1179 g; mean gestational age at birth, 29.7 weeks) with 233 controls from the same population in Cleveland who had normal birth weights. We assessed the level of education, cognitive and academic achievement, and rates of chronic illness and risk-taking behavior at 20 years of age. Outcomes were adjusted for sex and sociodemographic status.

RESULTS

Fewer very-low-birth-weight young adults than normal-birth-weight young adults had graduated from high school (74 percent vs. 83 percent, P=0.04). Very-low-birth-weight men, but not women, were significantly less likely than normal-birth-weight controls to be enrolled in postsecondary study (30 percent vs. 53 percent, P=0.002). Very-low-birth-weight participants had a lower mean IQ (87 vs. 92) and lower academic achievement scores (P<0.001 for both comparisons). They had higher rates of neurosensory impairments (10 percent vs. <1 percent, P<0.001) and subnormal height (10 percent vs. 5 percent, P=0.04). The very-low-birth-weight group reported less alcohol and drug use and had lower rates of pregnancy than normal-birth-weight controls; these differences persisted when comparisons were restricted to the participants without neurosensory impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

Educational disadvantage associated with very low birth weight persists into early adulthood.

Initial findings from Parent Party Patrol: an intervention to reduce adolescent substance use through reduced involvement in unchaperoned parties

This article presents preliminary evaluation findings from Parent Party Patrol (PPP). PPP is a two-hour single-session intervention that provides information to parents about ways to increase monitoring and improve communication and family guidelines regarding substance use, with the goal of reducing adolescent involvement in unsupervised activities and associated substance use. Seventy-three attendees from 15 PPP sessions completed baseline and three- to six-month follow-up information. At follow-up, participants showed significantly increased awareness of adolescent substance use and unchaperoned activities, improved communication and use of family guidelines regarding substance use, and increased monitoring of their children's activities. A significant reduction in adolescent attendance at unchaperoned parties was also reported. Replication of the study with a larger, more representative sample and controlled design is suggested. As adolescent substance use is a multidetermined problem, PPP may be best viewed as one part of a broader comprehensive substance abuse prevention program.

Perceived control in adolescent substance use: concurrent and longitudinal analyses

A sample of 9th-grade students (1,293 individuals, 51% girls) attending compulsory schools in Reykjavik, Iceland, was surveyed and followed up 3 years later. The relationship between perceived control and substance use is examined concurrently at age 14 for experimentation with tobacco and alcohol and longitudinally (14-17 years of age) for daily smoking, heavy drinking, and illicit drug use. Taking into account sociodemographic characteristics (family structure, socioeconomic status, and gender) and parental and peer use, the results of concurrent analyses indicate that adolescents who expressed more personal control were less likely to have smoked and to have had a drink at age 14. Longitudinal analyses showed that perceived control at age 14 predicted both daily smoking and illicit drug use among girls at age 17 but not among boys. Conversely, perceived control did not predict heavy drinking among adolescents.

Family risk and resiliency factors, substance use, and the drug resistance process in adolescence

Recent approaches to drug prevention have emphasized risk and resiliency factors. Two models have been developed to explain these factors, one which posits that separate elements make up each set and the other which posits that a single factor can be either a risk or a resiliency factor depending on, for example, if it is present (resiliency) or absent (risk). This study tested these models and attempted to compare the effects of risk and resiliency across gender and ethnicity. Results support the model in which risk and resiliency are discrete sets of factors and demonstrate that overall resiliency factors play a larger role than risk factors in substance use and drug resistance processes. However, gender proved to be an important moderator of these effects. For adolescent males, resiliency has an indirect effect on overall substance use through age of first use, while risk has a direct effect on overall substance use. For adolescent females, resiliency has a direct effect on overall substance use and risk has an indirect effect through age of first use. This indicates that while early interventions are important for both genders, resiliency factors must be dealt with before initiation of substance use for males. Findings did not differ substantially across ethnicity, although the small African-American sample size may have limited power to detect differences.

To know you is to trust you: parents' trust is rooted in child disclosure of information

As adolescents spend increasing amounts of time away from home, parental trust should become important. Little is known about how trust develops, however. We propose that parental trust is primarily based on knowledge. In this study, we pitted three types of knowledge of the child against each other in the prediction of parental trust: knowledge of feelings and concerns; of past delinquency; and of daily activities. Results showed that knowledge of daily activities was more important than knowledge of past delinquency. In further analyses, knowledge of daily activities that came from the child's spontaneous disclosure was most closely linked to parental trust. These findings add support to a recent re-interpretation of parental "monitoring" as parental knowledge that mainly comes from spontaneous child disclosure. Additionally, the role of parental trust for dysfunctional family relations was examined and it was found that the relations between the child's delinquency and family dysfunction were mediated by parental trust. Finally, even though there was substantial agreement between parents and children about parental trust in the child, the individual's unique perspectives were important. Family dysfunction from the child's perspective was based on whether they believed that their parents trusted them, and parental perceptions of family dysfunction were based on their own trust in the child.

Contributors to violent behavior among elementary and middle school children

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relative contributions of exposure to violence, parental monitoring, and television-viewing habits to children's self-reported violent behaviors. The study hypothesized that: 1) children's exposure to violence would be associated positively with self-reported violent behaviors; 2) parental monitoring would be associated negatively with children's violent behaviors; and 3) the number of daily television-viewing hours and a preference for watching violent television shows would be associated positively with children's violent behaviors.

METHODS

The study used a survey design with an anonymous self-report questionnaire administered to students (grades 3-8) in 11 public schools. A total of 2245 students participated in the study, representing 80% of the students attending the participating schools during the survey. The subjects were from 7 to 15 years of age; 51% were male, 57% were white, 33% percent were black, and 5% were Hispanic.

RESULTS

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis of the total sample revealed that the combination of demographic variables, parental monitoring, television-viewing habits, and exposure to violence explained 45% of students' self-reported violent behaviors. Violence exposure and parental monitoring were the most influential contributors in explaining children's violent behaviors, accounting for 24% and 5% of the variance in violent behaviors, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

All three hypotheses were supported. A significant association was demonstrated linking violence exposure, lack of parental monitoring, and television-viewing habits with children's self-reported violent behaviors within a diverse sample of elementary and middle school students. Our findings support the importance of parental monitoring of children and emphasize the need to identify and to provide services to youth who are exposed to violence.

Ethnic and gender differences and similarities in adolescent drug use and refusals of drug offers

This paper examines the relationship among ethnicity, gender, drug use, and resistance to drug offers among a sample of 2,622 African American, Mexican American, and White American seventh graders. A number of similarities were noted. First, these adolescents did not seem to possess large or sophisticated repertoires of offer resistance strategies. Second, most offers came from acquaintances in contrast to more intimate offers among older youths. Ethnic and gender differences were also noted. Ethnicity had significant effects on use and the offer process. Mexican Americans received more offers, used more drugs, and were more likely to be offered drugs by peer family members and at parties. European Americans were more likely to receive drug offers from acquaintances and at friends' homes and on the street. African Americans were more likely to receive offers from dating partners and parents, and in the park, and were more likely to resist offers of drugs-using explanations. Gender significantly affected drug offers and types of offers. Males were more at risk for offers and use at a younger age. Offers of drugs to males were more likely to come from parents or other males, while offers to females were more likely to come from other females or dating partners. Males also were more likely to receive drug offers that appeal to their social standing or self-image while females received either simple offers or those that minimize effects. Finally, offers of drugs to males were more likely to be made in public, while those to females were more likely to occur in private. Cultural explanations are offered for these findings.

Drug use among African Americans: ethnic identity as a protective factor

This study examined the multiple components of ethnic identity, the place of this ethnic identity set in the mediational model of the path to drug use predicted by our family interactional framework, and the protective role of each component of ethnic identity. The participants were 259 male and 368 female African Americans in late adolescence. They responded to a structured questionnaire in individual interviews. We found that few of the specific components of ethnic identity were significantly related as main effects to drug use. Most of the effect of ethnic identity was mediated by the family set of variables. Each of the components of ethnic identity offset risks or enhanced protective factors from the ecology, family, personality, and peer domains, thereby lessening drug use. This pattern highlights the importance of incorporating ethnic identity into drug prevention programs which serve African-American youth.

Ethnic differences in correlates of adolescent cigarette smoking

PURPOSE

To examine the correlates of cigarette smoking among African-American, Hispanic, and white adolescents in a cross-sectional national sample.

METHODS

A total of 1795 mother-child dyads from the 1992 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were selected for analyses. Measures of adolescents cigarette smoking and family, individual, peer, and sociodemographic risk factors were analyzed.

RESULTS

White youths reported the highest rates of lifetime, current, and persistent smoking, and initiated smoking at a significantly earlier age than African-Americans and Hispanics. Except for maternal cigarette smoking and substance use, African-Americans and Hispanics experienced a disproportionately larger number of purported risk factors than whites. Multivariate analyses revealed common and ethnic-specific correlates of adolescent lifetime and current smoking, with many more significant associations among whites than minorities. Common correlates included youth's age across all three ethnic groups, problem behaviors and delinquency among whites and African-Americans, and perceived peer pressure to smoke among whites and Hispanics. Ethnic-specific correlates included maternal smoking, maternal cocaine use, low maternal religiosity, and negative scholastic attitudes, which increased smoking for whites; and positive parenting, which reduced smoking for African-Americans.

CONCLUSIONS

The lack of effects of maternal smoking and perceived peer pressure to smoke on African-American adolescents compared with whites suggests that role modeling and interpersonal influence may be more important determinants of smoking for white than African-American adolescents. The differential impact of family and peer factors on the smoking of adolescents of different ethnicity warrants further investigation.

Similar and different precursors to drug use and delinquency among African Americans and Puerto Ricans

Correlational and net regression techniques were used to examine the commonalities and differences in risks for later drug use and delinquency among African American and Puerto Rican adolescents. Eight-eight percent of the risks were significantly related to both problem behaviors. Within the personality, family, peer, ecology, and acculturation domains, many risks independently contributed to the prediction of each problem. Only three risks had a significantly stronger relationship to one of the problem behaviors than to the other. Finding so many common predictors supports a general dimension of problem behavior and highlights the psychosocial risks for drug use and delinquency. The commonalities suggest that interventions targeting these adolescent risks might reduce both problem behaviors.

A family based model of Hispanic adolescent substance use

While adolescent substance use has been the focus of extensive research over the last few decades, Hispanic adolescent substance use has received only limited attention. Studies exploring predictors of Hispanic adolescent substance use have failed to adequately explore the contribution of the family on substance use. The present study examined the relative influence of family, school and peer influences, perceived student substance use, family substance use, and acculturation on a sample of Mexican-American early adolescents using structural equations modeling. The findings varied for males and females. Family functioning and family use directly influenced substance use for males. Family functioning influenced school and peer variables, however, these were unrelated to use. For females, family use and student use directly influenced substance use. Family functioning influenced family use and school and peer attachments. School and peer attachment predicted perceived student use. These findings suggest that family functioning has a primary role in Hispanic adolescent substance use.