Using a predominately Mexican-origin Latino sample of 5th grade students from the Southwestern United States, this study examined the relative effects of perceived discrimination and acculturation stress on substance use, and it assessed whether these effects were moderated by linguistic acculturation or time in the United States. Although rates of substance use were generally low in the sample, given the young age of the participants, over half (59%) of the sample perceived some discrimination, and almost half (47%) experienced some acculturation stress. Spanish-dominant and bilingual youth perceived more discrimination than English-dominant youth, whereas youth who have been in the United States five or fewer years perceived more discrimination than youth with more time in the United States. Youth who were Spanish-dominant or were recent arrivals experienced the most acculturation stress, with levels declining as linguistic acculturation and time in the United States increased. Multiple regression estimates indicated that perceived discrimination was associated with larger amounts and higher frequency of recent substance use and an array of substance use attitudes, such as stronger intentions to use substances, espousal of pro-drug norms, more positive substance use expectancies, and peer approval of substance use. Although acculturation stress was not associated with substance use, it was positively associated with several substance use attitudes, which are known antecedents of actual use. With a few exceptions, linguistic acculturation and time in the United States did not moderate the effects of perceived discrimination or acculturation stress.

Among a predominately Mexican and Mexican American sample of preadolescents, religiosity protected against lifetime alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use and recent alcohol and cigarette use when religious affiliation was controlled. When religiosity was controlled, however, adolescents with no religious affiliation and adolescents who were religiously affiliated reported similar substance use outcomes. Interaction effects demonstrated that the protective effect of greater religiosity operated more strongly in some religions than in others for selected outcomes. Overall, the impact of religiosity on reported drug use did not differ significantly for more and less acculturated Latino youth. Keywords adolescents; drug use; religiosity; Mexican American; acculturation Adolescence is a life period marked by significant personal and social changes that are associated with unacceptably high substance use rates (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1998a, 1998b. Initiation into substance use at this age is of special concern given that early drug use places an individual at greater risk for later use (M. A. Miller, Alberts, Hecht, Trost, & Krizek, 2000). Yet adolescence is also a period of attachment transitions and religious changes (Granquist, 2002). Compared with adults, adolescents are more likely to be searching for purpose and identity (L. Miller, Davies, & Greenwald, 2000). In this search, religion may be a source for information or answers, providing guidelines for behavior and opportunities for prosocial interaction.Religion has been identified as having a protective effect against substance use, including for youth (Wallace & Bachman, 1991). Yet further research is needed to understand how religion affects adolescents as they experience multiple developmental and social changes. Although religiosity and religious affiliation have each been associated with youth substance use outcomes, still relatively little is known about the relationship between these two NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript phenomena and about how this relationship may influence adolescent substance use. Furthermore, little is known about how the influences of religion and acculturation combine in the life of Latino adolescents in the Southwest, many of whom come from immigrant families. This article focuses on the protective effects of religion, exploring the influence of religiosity within certain religious affiliations and across levels of acculturation, using a predominately Mexican and Mexican American sample of adolescents. The two hypotheses of the study are that religiosity and religious affiliation will have a protective effect on the drug use behaviors and norms of preadolescents in the Southwest and that acculturation will mediate the effect of religion. Literature Review ReligiosityReligiosity is a multidimensional construct referring to a person's behavioral and attitudinal religious fervor, regardless of the content of his or her beliefs (Amey, Albrecht, & Miller, 1996). The literature ...

This study explores the extent to which parental and peer behaviors and norms may affect substance use, personal anti-drug norms and intentions to use drugs in a group of Mexican heritage preadolescents in the Southwest, and whether these parental and peer influences differ according to gender. Secondary data from a randomized trial of a drug prevention program was used. The sample consisted of 2,733 adolescents. The outcomes were recent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, personal anti-drug norms and intentions to use drugs. In this study, peer variables were more consistently related to the outcomes than parent variables, with the exception of parental injunctive norms which were the most predictive parent factor. Recommendations are provided to further study the protective processes that are maintained through the transition into adolescence and acculturation as a foundation for the design of resiliency-focused prevention interventions.

This study examines neighborhood influences on alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use among a predominantly Latino middle school sample. Drawing on theories of immigrant adaptation and segmented assimilation, we test whether neighborhood immigrant, ethnic, and socioeconomic composition, violent crime, residential instability, and family structure have differential effects on substance use among youth from different ethnic and acculturation backgrounds. Data are drawn from self-reports from 3,721 7 th grade students attending 35 Phoenix, Arizona middle schools. Analysis was restricted to the two largest ethnic groups, Latino students of Mexican heritage and non-Hispanic Whites. After adjusting for individual-level characteristics and school-level random effects, only one neighborhood effect was found for the sample overall, an undesirable impact of neighborhood residential instability on recent cigarette use. Sub-group analyses by individual ethnicity and acculturation showed more patterned neighborhood effects. Living in neighborhoods with high proportions of recent immigrants was protective against alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use for Latino students at different acculturation levels, while living in predominantly Mexican heritage neighborhoods (mostly non-immigrants) was a risk factor for alcohol and marijuana use for less acculturated Latinos. There were scattered effects of neighborhood poverty and crime, which predicted more cigarette and alcohol use, respectively, but only among more acculturated Latinos. Inconsistent effects confined to bilingual and more acculturated Latinos were found for the neighborhood's proportion of single mother families and its residential instability. No neighborhood effects emerged for non-Hispanic White students. Results suggested that disadvantaged neighborhoods increase substance use among some ethnic minority youth, but immigrant enclaves appear to provide countervailing protections.Keywords neighborhood effects; substance use; adolescents; Mexican Americans; acculturation For nearly a century the neighborhood social context has been conceptualized and investigated empirically as an important influence on the behavior of individuals. Numerous studies have tested competing theories about neighborhood effects on substance abuse among adolescents (Duncan, Duncan and Strycker 2002 1996; Elliott, et. al., 1996). Some studies have delved into differential neighborhood impacts on African Americans and European Americans (e.g., Crowder and South, 2003; Finch, Kolody and Vega, 1999). However, research is relatively sparse on the impact of neighborhoods on Latinos specifically, and how neighborhood effects operate in cities where Latinos are the largest cultural minority group (e.g., Finch, et al., 2000; Sastry and Pebley, 2003;Zatz and Portillos 2000). Thus, there is little understanding about how factors specific to predominantly Latino neighborhoods-particularly the influence of Mexican culture, immigrant populations and acculturation-may influence adolescent substanc...

The prevention literature has given little attention to how parental influences affect substance use among Mexican origin adolescents, even though they form part of the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. This study explored the effects of three types of parental influences-parental monitoring of the child's whereabouts, degree of parental permissiveness, and the strength of parental injunctive norms discouraging substance use-on alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use and anti-drug norms. Results showed that parental permissiveness and parental injunctive norms, particularly anti-drug injunctive norms, had the strongest effects on the substance use outcomes, but parental monitoring generally was not a significant predictor. These results and implications for prevention are discussed in light of Mexican cultural norms toward substance use, gender roles, and family roles.