The Relationship Between Acculturation, Ecodevelopment, and Substance Use Among Hispanic Adolescents

Do Acculturative Gap Conflicts Impact Parenting Practices and Youth E-Cigarette Use? Tests of Moderated Mediation

BACKGROUND

Latino/a youth are at increased risk of electronic (e)-cigarette or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) use; thus, identifying factors impacting initiation is critical. Parenting practices reflecting warmth (e.g., relationship quality) and control (e.g., parental monitoring) and substance use-specific parenting (e.g., reactions to use, parenting self-efficacy) may influence youth substance use. For Latino/a youth, tensions from intergenerational acculturative differences are linked to substance use. We investigated ENDS use-specific parenting as a mediator between general parenting and youth ENDS use, examining whether acculturative gap conflict moderated the association between general and ENDS use-specific parenting. We expected mediation among families experiencing low acculturative gap conflicts.

METHOD

 Data were analyzed over two waves from a predominantly White and Latino/a sample of caregiver-child dyads (N = 143) who identified with a culture in addition to or distinct from American. Youth (Mage = 14.9 years, SD = 0.67; 62.9% female) reported relationship quality, parental monitoring, caregiver ENDS attitudes and reactions, acculturative gap conflicts, and ENDS use. Caregivers reported on ENDS use-specific parenting self-efficacy. Two moderated multiple mediator regression models (i.e., relationship quality, parental monitoring) were estimated.

RESULTS

 Among youth reporting low and mean levels of acculturative gap conflict, ENDS use-specific parenting self-efficacy mediated the association between relationship quality and reduced ENDS use. There was no evidence for an interaction in the parental monitoring model.

CONCLUSIONS

 In families experiencing low levels of acculturative gap conflict, relationship quality may impact ENDS use through caregivers' confidence in their ability to prevent child ENDS use.

Hispanic adolescents' internalizing symptoms and positive family functioning: A bidirectional examination of associations over time

Open communication with parents, defined as perceived ease of adolescent-parent disclosure, and family support are components of positive family functioning linked with fewer adolescent internalizing symptoms. However, relatively little is known about bidirectional pathways over time. Even less is known about bidirectional pathways for Hispanic adolescents or about the role of adolescent and parent gender. Therefore, this study examined bidirectional pathways between positive family functioning and adolescent internalizing symptoms over time in a sample of Hispanic middle school adolescents (N = 340; 51% female, Mage = 13.27 years, SD = .77), who completed surveys in the fall of 2016 (Time 1) and the spring of 2017 (Time 2; N = 284; 52% female). Results indicated that positive family functioning, including open communication with mothers and fathers, predicted fewer depressive symptoms for girls, but not for boys. Open communication with fathers predicted fewer anxiety symptoms for girls and boys. Girls' depressive symptoms, but not boys', predicted decreases in open communication with fathers. Boys' depressive symptoms predicted less family support. Unexpectedly, boys' anxiety symptoms predicted increased family support. These findings highlight gendered pathways linking family functioning and internalizing symptoms in Hispanic adolescents over time, including the relative importance of open communication with fathers. Gendered findings emphasize the utility of family-based prevention and early intervention programs targeting internalizing symptoms, especially for Hispanic girls. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Socialization Contexts on Adolescent Substance Use across Racial and Ethnic Groups

Purpose of Review

This review summarizes theories and empirical work regarding socialization contexts contributing to substance use across marginalized adolescents. Future directions and recommendations to minimize the perpetuation of racial stereotypes are provided.

Recent Findings

Neighborhoods high in social cohesion may offset substance use risk. Promoting school connectedness via increased support from teachers and peers could reduce school-based discrimination and enhance feelings of belongingness. The influence of peers on substance use engagement largely differs across racial groups and level of acculturation. Family cultural values emphasizing respect, obedience, and collectivism offer protection from substance use.

Summary

Despite lower prevalence rates of adolescent substance use within racial/ethnic groups, rates of negative consequences due to substances are far greater compared to White adolescents. Transcultural factors (e.g., strong family ties), as well as culture-specific factors, should be leveraged to delay the onset of substance use and prevent negative sequelae resulting from substance use initiation.

Latinas and Maternal and Child Health: Research, Policy, and Representation

Over the last 50 years, the Latino population in the US has grown and changed. Latinos are the nation's largest minority group and among this group, there is incredible diversity. Much of Latino health research and outcomes have been treated interchangeably with immigrant health, but as the US Latino population evolves so should the focus of Latino health research. We contend that as maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes are an utmost important indicator of a country's health, and as Latinos make up 18% of the US's population, it is imperative that we move past dated research frameworks to a more nuanced understanding of the health of Latina women and children. We summarize how acculturation has been used to describe differences in MCH outcomes, discuss how the umbrella term "Latino" masks subgroups differences, explore Afro-Latinidad in MCH, examine the effects of the sociopolitical climate on the health of families, and demonstrate the limited representation of Latinos in MCH research. We conclude that a deeper understanding of Latino health is necessary to achieve health equity for Latina women and their children.

Understanding Chinese international students’ perception of cultural conflicts in Canada: Through the case of cannabis use

The legalization of recreational cannabis consumption in Canada created a cultural conflict for international students from China, where the use of cannabis is heavily criminalized and deemed immoral. This conceptual paper theorizes this cultural conflict experienced by Chinese international students in Canada by applying three theories from macro to micro levels. Neoliberalism is first used to understand how this cultural conflict exposes collisions between the neoliberal West and the rising economic power of China as illustrated through Chinese students studying in Canada. Next, acculturation theory focuses on these students’ cultural transition and provides further insight into potential strategies for their handling of specific cultural conflicts such as cannabis use. Lastly, Cloninger’s theory of substance use is adopted to explore Chinese international students’ individual reasoning about cannabis use, particularly how they make decisions based on evaluations of various conditions. Building upon the above analyses, an integrated conceptual model is further formed to help us understand Chinese students’ potential perception of cannabis use in Canada. This conceptual framework provides an important theoretical and conceptual base for future research and practice, from which to further explore cannabis use in the context of cultural transition of different immigrant and migrant groups.

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.

George SM. The Effects of Parent-Adolescent Acculturation Gaps on Adolescent Lifestyle Behaviors: Moderating Role of Family Communication

Objectives

This study examined 1) associations between parent-adolescent acculturation gaps in Americanism and Hispanicism and adolescents' lifestyle behaviors (fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity), and 2) the moderating roles of adolescent- and parent-reported family communication on these associations.

Methods

Hispanic adolescents who have overweight or obesity (n=280; 52% female, 13.0±0.8 years old) and their parents (88% female, 44.9±6.5 years old) completed baseline measures on acculturation, family communication, weekly physical activity, and daily fruit and vegetable intake as part of their participation in a family-based health promotion efficacy trial. Acculturation gaps were calculated by taking the product of adolescent and parent scores for each subscale (Americanism and Hispanicism). We conducted multiple linear regression analyses with three-way interaction terms (e.g., parent Americanism x adolescent Americanism x family communication) to assess for moderation.

Results

Family communication significantly moderated the association between parent-adolescent acculturation gaps in Americanism and adolescent fruit and vegetable intake. For families with low adolescent-reported family communication, parent-adolescent discrepancies in Americanism were associated with lower adolescent fruit and vegetable intake whereas there were no significant associations for families with high family communication. There were no effects on weekly minutes of physical activity. Acculturation gaps in Hispanicism were not significantly associated with either outcome.

Conclusions

Findings highlight the importance of parent-adolescent acculturation gaps and family communication on fruit and vegetable intake for Hispanic adolescents. Targeting parent-adolescent acculturation gaps for families with low levels of communication may be important to improve dietary behaviors in Hispanic adolescents, who are already disproportionately affected by obesity.

Acculturation and drinking behavior among Latinxs: a narrative review

Research suggests that acculturation is associated with increased alcohol consumption among Latinxs. The purpose of this narrative review is to contribute to this literature by examining the association between acculturation and alcohol use within current theoretical and etiological frameworks on cultural norms, acculturative stress, and acculturative gaps. This review also compares the utility of these explanatory frameworks for guiding future research. Two databases (PubMed and PsycInfo) were used to identify peer-reviewed studies pertaining to the associations between acculturation and alcohol use among Latinxs. Studies that examined drinking norms, acculturative stress, acculturation gaps, and drinking behavior in Latinxs were included. The types of study approaches and designs included quantitative, qualitative, cross-sectional, cohort, and longitudinal studies published between January 2000 and December 2021. Quality assessment and data synthesis were conducted by two reviewers. A total of 65 articles reporting empirical studies were included in the final review. Eighteen studies did not utilize a specific framework, but generally supported that acculturation is associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol related consequences among Latinxs. Additionally, sixteen studies examined cultural norms, twenty-two examined acculturative stress, while only nine utilized a gap discrepancy framework. Studies examining drinking norms appeared to largely explain changes in drinking behavior among Latinas, while studies examining acculturative stress seemed to be better equipped to explain changes in drinking behavior among Latino men. Meanwhile, the Gap Discrepancy Model articulates the gap between old and new cultural influences and can be conceptualized as an additional dimension of acculturative stress.

The Importance of Family and School Protective Factors in Preventing the Risk Behaviors of Youth

The aim of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations of protective factors within a family and school context with adolescent risk behaviors. The study was conducted among adolescents (n = 9682) from five cities in Croatia. Mean age of participants was 16.2 years (SD = 1.2), and 52.5% were female. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to examine relations between school attachment, school commitment, family communication, and family satisfaction with gambling, substance use, violence, and sexual risk behavior. Data analyses were conducted in two sets, the first using the full sample, and the second using a subsample (excluding Zagreb) for which there was data on sexual risk behavior. In the first model, school attachment was negatively associated with gambling and violence, while school commitment was negatively associated with students' gambling, substance use, and violence. Gambling was also associated with family satisfaction in this model. Results from the subsample model were similar with regards to school and family factors associated with gambling, substance use, and violence, with a few exceptions. In this model, family protective factors were found not to be significantly related with any risk behavior. These study results emphasize the importance of strengthening school protective factors, school attachment, and school commitment in preventing risk behaviors in adolescents.

Ethnicity and Self-reported Depression Among Hispanic Immigrants in the U.S

Viewed to be healthier than ethnic Hispanics born in the United States, Hispanic immigrants represent numerous subgroups with clearly heterogeneous geographic, cultural, structural, and social origins. This study asked how the factors length of U.S. residency, social status, lifestyle, and health care might explain self-reported depression within 5 large, discrete subgroups comprising immigrants from, in turn, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and other nations in Central and South America. The study also examined ethnicity's potential role moderating self-reported depression's associations. With pooled data from National Health Interview Surveys 1999-2015, it evaluated each ethnic group separately. Self-reported depression was associated generally with lengthening residence in the U.S., with being female, with poverty, with unemployment, with lack of education, and with lifestyle and health-care factors. These associations were not uniform across ethnic groups, however. Where self-reported depression is concerned, descriptive results suggest the proverbial health advantage may largely accrue specifically to Hispanic immigrants of Cuban and of Central/South American origin.

An update on the assessment of culture and environment in the ABCD Study®: Emerging literature and protocol updates over three measurement waves

Advances in our understanding of risk and resilience factors in adolescent brain health and development increasingly demand a broad set of assessment tools that consider a youth's peer, family, school, neighborhood, and cultural contexts in addition to neurobiological, genetic, and biomedical information. The Culture and Environment (CE) Workgroup (WG) of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study curates these important components of the protocol throughout ten years of planned data collection. In this report, the CE WG presents an update on the evolution of the ABCD Study® CE protocol since study inception (Zucker et al., 2018), as well as emerging findings that include CE measures. Background and measurement characteristics of instruments present in the study since baseline have already been described in our 2018 report, and therefore are only briefly described here. New measures introduced since baseline are described in more detail. Descriptive statistics on all measures are presented based on a total sample of 11,000+ youth and their caregivers assessed at baseline and the following two years. Psychometric properties of the measures, including longitudinal aspects of the data, are reported, along with considerations for future measurement waves. The CE WG ABCD® components are an essential part of the overall protocol that permits characterization of the unique cultural and social environment within which each developing brain is transactionally embedded.

Investigating differences in sex, race/ethnicity, and impulsivity across substance user profiles: a person-centered approach

Although substance use is considered normative in college, continued examination of factors associated with problematic use is merited. This study identified latent substance user classes and examined their relations with sex, race/ethnicity, impulsivity-like facets, and substance use outcomes among 702 undergraduate students. Non-Alcohol Abstaining Users (NAA), Minimal Users (MU), and Polysubstance Users (PSU) emerged from latent class analysis. Variable-centered analyses indicated that substance user classes did not differ by sex. Students in the Asian and Other groups were at greater odds of being in the MU class than either NAA or PSU class, compared to White students. Differential patterns of impulsigenic trait levels emerged across latent classes. The present study highlights the utility of integrating person- and variable-centered approaches in studying heterogeneous substance use behaviors among college students. College PSU are particularly at risk for problematic outcomes, thus warranting preventive intervention that may target impulsigenic traits or polysubstance use.

The Role of Culture of Origin on the Effectiveness of a Parents-Involved Intervention to Prevent Substance Use Among Latino Middle School Youth: Results of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study was to assess the combined effectiveness of a parenting intervention, Families Preparing the New Generation (FPNG), and a youth curriculum, keepin' it REAL (kiR), on substance use prevention for middle school students in a large urban metro area of the southwest USA. The study aimed to generate usable knowledge on what works in adolescent substance use prevention and how it works best-a combined parent and youth programming or parent-only programming. A total of 532 adolescents in the 7th grade from 19 participating middle schools were randomly assigned into three intervention conditions: parent-youth (PY), parent-only (PO), and comparison (C). This article focuses on the comparison between PY and PO in order to determine which intervention strategy works best to reduce adolescent substance use including alcohol, inhalant, cigarette, and marijuana uses. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) model examined the longitudinal data. The results for alcohol use show that PO yielded better results than PY and that PY outperformed C after 20 months. Further, PO showed a decreasing trajectory in any substance use over time since the implementation of the intervention. The effect sizes based on Cohen's h indicate small effects in any substance use and alcohol use for PO condition and smaller effects for the PY condition. These findings have implications for the design of future culturally specific parenting and youth prevention interventions with Latino families.

Randomized effectiveness trial of a parent and youth combined intervention on the substance use norms of Latino middle school students

This article advances knowledge about the effectiveness of applying a community-based efficacious parenting intervention in parallel with an efficacious preadolescent intervention in changing substance abuse norms among preadolescent Latino youth. The study employed a longitudinal, randomized control group design comparing three groups: (1) Parent intervention combined with a Youth intervention: Parent/Youth; (2) Parent intervention without a Youth intervention: Parent Only; and (3) Treatment as usual: Comparison. In the comparison group, parents participated in a standard parenting program delivered by the community partner, and the youth received the usual drug use prevention programming offered in their schools. Data from both parents and youth at the19 participating schools were collected at pre-test, immediate post-test (4 months after pre-test), and two follow-up (8 & 20 months after the pre-test). The total sample includes 532 families (parent-child dyads). The parent-child dyads consisted of one parent and one youth ages 12-14. The retention rates for both parents and preadolescent were high across the different waves of data collection (79%-96%). Regression results of youth substance use norms were calculated based on three permutations of data: (a) original data, with no imputation and no propensity score matching; (b) imputed data but no propensity score matching; and (c) imputed data plus propensity score matching. Compared to the Comparison group, the Parent/Youth condition was the most effective in changing youth's norms, closely followed by the Parent Only condition. These findings make a significant contribution in advancing knowledge on family/youth substance use prevention for Latinos in a community environment. Although the study took place in a specific urban center in the Southwest US, its findings can be generalized to other urban communities of similar characteristics across the country.