A trajectory analysis of alcohol and marijuana use among Latino adolescents in San Francisco, California

Correlates of Alcohol Use Likelihood for Latino Immigrant Youth in an Emerging Context

Using a three-wave prospective longitudinal design spanning 3 years, we assessed alcohol use likelihood trajectories and their correlates among a community sample of Latino immigrant adolescents in the emerging immigrant context of Western Oregon. Results from growth mixture modeling revealed two distinct classes: lower risk youth who reported little likelihood of alcohol use but whose trajectory was increasing, and higher risk youth who reported higher likelihood of alcohol use and whose trajectory was stable. We found significant differences between the two classes such that lower risk youth reported greater levels of Latino cultural orientation and parental monitoring, whereas higher risk youth reported greater levels of family cultural stress and delinquency. Results are discussed in terms of prior research and theory.

Neighborhood, Peer, and Parental Influences on Minor and Major Substance Use of Latino and Black Adolescents

Self-report survey data were collected from 797 adolescents (47.2% Latino, 52.8% Black) in North Carolina. Path analyses were conducted to examine relationships between youth perceptions of maternal and paternal monitoring, neighborhood crime/drugs, friends’ delinquency, peer victimization, minor substance use, and major substance use. After establishing a good fitting model, multigroup models were conducted for Blacks vs. Latinos. The results indicated perceived maternal monitoring (and paternal monitoring for Latinos) was directly related to decreased exposure to neighborhood crime/drugs and friends’ delinquency. For Latinos and Blacks, maternal and paternal monitoring were directly related to gateway substance use, and indirectly related to major substance use through gateway substance use. Additionally, friends’ delinquency and peer victimization were directly related to gateway and major substance use for Blacks and Latinos. Thus, exposure to neighborhood crime/drugs was indirectly related to substance use through friends’ delinquency and peer victimization.

Parental protective and risk factors regarding cannabis use in adolescence: A national sample from the Chilean school population

Background: Research has increased our understanding of the parental factors associated with the initiation and development of cannabis use disorder in adolescents, but few studies about this have been performed in middle- or low-income countries.

Objective: First, to examine whether perceived past parental drug use, parental monitoring, and attitude toward adolescent cannabis use are associated with general and problematic cannabis use in Chilean adolescents. Second, to explore whether perceived past parental drug use weakens the associations of protective factors with general and problematic adolescent cannabis use.

Methods: Regression analyses were performed on cross-sectional data from a multistage probabilistic sample stratified by clusters (municipalities, school and grade) of 43,060 students (47% male, mean age 15.5 years) from grades 8 to 12, which was collected from the Chilean National School Survey on Drug Use (2013).

Results: Perceived past parental drug use increased the likelihood of adolescent cannabis use in general, but not its problematic use. Parental monitoring of adolescents' whereabouts and parental opposition to adolescent cannabis use decreased the likelihood of adolescent cannabis use in general, as well as problematic use. Perceived past parental drug use only interacted with parental monitoring of school activities.

Conclusions: In line with research from the United States, the Netherlands and Spain, parental monitoring of adolescents' whereabouts and a strong parental opposition to cannabis use appear to be protective factors, irrespective of past parental use. However, the effectiveness of monitoring adolescents' school activities seems to decrease when parents are perceived as having used drugs in the past.

Development of Marijuana Use Among Juvenile Offenders and Its Relevance for Predicting Problematic Binge Drinking: A Dual Trajectory Analysis Approach

This study builds on past research to examine the association of engagement in consistently high binge drinking behavior in adolescence with the concurrent development of marijuana use and to better understand the development of marijuana use during adolescence among a sample of juvenile offenders. This research used group-based trajectory analysis to examine heterogeneity in the development of marijuana use and dual trajectory analysis to examine the relevance of trajectories for predicting concurrent problematic binge drinking. A seven-group model best fit the marijuana use data. Marijuana use in adolescence predicted increased odds of assignment to the heavy chronic binge drinking group. The heavy chronic marijuana use group was overwhelmingly the best predictor of assignment to this group. Juvenile offenders are at risk of engagement in marijuana use and problematic levels of marijuana use. Engagement in marijuana use predicts higher odds of problematic binge drinking behavior during adolescence.

Efficacy of the Young Women's CoOp: An HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention for Substance-Using African-American Female Adolescents in the South

HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk-reduction interventions are needed to address the complex risk behaviors among African-American female adolescents in disadvantaged communities in North Carolina. In a two-group randomized trial, we reached 237 sexually active, substance-using African-American female adolescents, to test a risk-reduction intervention, the Young Women's CoOp (YWC), relative to a nutrition control. In efficacy analyses adjusting for baseline condom use, at three-month follow-up participants in the YWC were significantly less likely to report sex without a condom at last sex relative to control. There were mixed findings for within-group differences over follow-up, underscoring the challenges for intervening with substance-using female youths.

Alcohol and marijuana use trajectories in a diverse longitudinal sample of adolescents: examining use patterns from age 11 to 17 years

AIMS

We tested race/ethnic differences in alcohol and marijuana (AM) trajectories (comprising an intercept term, reflecting overall probability of use, and a slope term, reflecting change in probability of use) during adolescence, whether AM use trajectories predicted high school outcomes, and whether outcomes differed by race/ethnicity after controlling for trajectory of AM use.

DESIGN

This longitudinal study involved 6509 youth from 16 middle schools in Southern California surveyed from age 11.5 (2008) to age 17 (2015) years; all surveys assessed AM use, and the final survey also examined high school outcomes.

SETTING

Youth completed five surveys in middle school and two on-line surveys in high school.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample was 50% male and 80% non-white.

MEASUREMENTS

Intercept (at 2.75 years post-baseline) and slope of AM use were examined as outcomes for race/ethnic differences. AM use trajectories were examined as predictors of academic performance and unpreparedness, social functioning, mental and physical health and delinquency.

FINDINGS

We found differences in trajectories of use by race/ethnicity, with white youth reporting a higher overall intercept of alcohol use compared to all other groups (versus Asian P < 0.001, black P = 0.001, multi-ethnic P = 0.008). Overall, examination of trajectories of use showed that adolescents with a higher alcohol use intercept term reported greater academic unpreparedness (P < 0.001) and delinquency (P < 0.001) at wave 7 in high school. In addition, youth with a higher intercept for marijuana use reported greater academic unpreparedness (P < 0.001) and delinquency (P < 0.001), and poorer academic performance (P = 0.032) and mental health (P = 0.002) in high school. At wave 7, compared to white youth, Hispanic and multi-ethnic youth reported poorer academic performance (P < 0.001 and P = 0.034, respectively); Asian, black and Hispanic youth reported higher academic unpreparedness (P < 0.001, P = 0.019, and P = 0.001); and Asian youth and multi-ethnic youth reported poorer physical health (P = 0.012 and P = 0.018) controlling for AM use.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater AM use was associated with worse functioning in high school for all youth. After controlling for AM use, non-white youth reported worse outcomes in high school for academics and health.

Gang membership and marijuana use among African American female adolescents in North Carolina

The southeastern US sustains the highest high school dropout rates, and gangs persist in underserved communities. African American female adolescents who drop out of school and are gang members are at substantial risk of exposure to severe violence, physical abuse, and sexual exploitation. In this study of 237 female African American adolescents 16-19 years of age from North Carolina who dropped out or considered dropping out, 11% were current or past gang members. Adolescents who reported gang membership began smoking marijuana at a mean age of 13, whereas those who reported no gang membership began at a mean age of 15 years (P<0.001). The mean ages of first alcohol use were 14 years and 15 years for gang members and non-gang members, respectively (P=0.04). Problem alcohol use was high in both groups: 40% and 65% for non-gang and gang members, respectively (P=0.02). Controlling for frequent marijuana use and problem alcohol use, adolescents who reported gang membership were more likely than non-gang members to experience sexual abuse (odds ratio [OR] =2.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.06, 6.40]), experience physical abuse (OR =7.33, 95% CI [2.90, 18.5]), report emotional abuse from their main partner (OR =3.55, 95% CI [1.44, 8.72]), run away from home (OR =4.65, 95% CI [1.90, 11.4]), get arrested (OR =2.61, 95% CI [1.05, 6.47]), and report violence in their neighborhood including murder (OR =3.27, 95% CI [1.35, 7.96]) and fights with weapons (OR =3.06, 95% CI [1.15, 8.11]). Gang members were less likely to receive emotional support (OR =0.89, 95% CI [0.81, 0.97]). These findings reinforce the urgent need to reach young African American women in disadvantaged communities affiliated with gangs to address the complexity of context and interconnected risk behaviors.

Homies with aspirations and positive peer network ties: associations with reduced frequent substance use among gang-affiliated Latino youth

In marginalized urban neighborhoods across the USA, Latino youth are disproportionately represented among the growing number of youth gangs. Substance use among gang-involved youth poses both immediate and long-term health risks and can threaten educational engagement, future socioeconomic stability, and desistance. Conventional assessments of gang-affiliated youth and their peer network overlook the possibility that positive peer ties may exist and can foster health promoting behavior norms. Drawing on a positive deviance framework, in this study, we examine the relationship between positive peer network characteristics tied to post-secondary educational aspirations and frequent alcohol and marijuana use among Latino, gang-affiliated youth from a neighborhood in San Francisco. Using generalized estimating equations regression models across 72 peer network clusters (162 youth), we found that having close friends who plan to go to a 4-year college was associated with a lower odds of frequent marijuana and alcohol use (OR 0.27, p = 0.02; OR 0.29, p = 0.14, respectively) and that this association persisted when adjusting for risk characteristics (OR 0.19, p < 0.01; OR 0.25, p = 0.12). Public health can advance gang intervention efforts by identifying protective and risk factors associated with non-criminal health outcomes to inform participatory research approaches and asset-based interventions that contribute to building healthy communities.

Padrão de consumo de álcool e fatores associados entre adolescentes estudantes de escolas públicas em município do interior brasileiro

OBJETIVO: Identificar aspectos relacionados ao consumo alcoólico entre estudantes de um município do interior do sudeste brasileiro. MÉTODOS: Neste estudo transversal foram avaliados 638 alunos de 13 a 17 anos, sendo 355 (55,6%) meninas, escolhidos de modo randomizado em 13/40 (32,5%) escolas públicas entre novembro de 2009 e agosto de 2010. Foi utilizado um questionário estruturado para coleta de dados pessoais/familiares e o Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) para avaliar o consumo alcoólico. Foi usada análise bivariada e regressão logística. RESULTADOS: Foi verificado que 516 (80,9%) estudantes fizeram uso de álcool na vida e 115 (18,4%) faziam consumo de risco (AUDIT ≥ 8). Pela análise bruta, o consumo de risco associou-se à faixa etária (16 a 17 anos), idade do primeiro consumo (≤ 12 anos), maior renda familiar, ambiente familiar conflituoso, não praticar uma religião e consumo alcoólico dos pais. Pela análise ajustada observou-se associação com a idade do primeiro consumo (≤ 12 anos), sendo odds ratio (OR) = 2,5 e intervalo de confiança de 95% (IC95%) 1,4 - 4,4. Vida sexual foi mais frequente entre os que já fizeram uso de álcool na vida (OR = 3,3; IC95% 2,0 - 5,3). Sob efeito do álcool, 22/103 alunos (21,4%) nem sempre utilizaram preservativos. Entre todos, 25,4% acreditam que não há risco em beber e 98% já compraram bebidas alcoólicas. Sentir vontade de beber após assistir a propagandas de bebidas alcoólicas foi mais frequente entre adolescentes que já as consumiram (OR = 1,7; IC95% 1,1 - 2,6). CONCLUSÃO: Foi verificado preocupante e precoce consumo alcoólico entre estudantes, mostrando a necessidade tanto de conscientização dos jovens e de seus responsáveis para os riscos desse consumo, quanto de se cumprir a lei que proíbe a venda de bebidas alcoólicas a menores de idade.