Ethnic Identity and Risky Health Behaviors in School-Age Mexican-American Children

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between ethnic identity and risky health behaviors in 1,892 Mexican-American students (M age= 14.6, SD= 1.35; 50.3% male) in South Texas. The Ethnic Identity Scale assessed ethnic identity and questions from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey measured risky health behaviors (mixed use of alcohol and drugs, heavy drinking, driving under the influence, regular marijuana use, regular cigarette smoking, lack of regular exercise, not eating breakfast regularly, and carrying a gun or knife to school). Logistic regression tested the relationships between ethnic identity and report of risky health behaviors controlling for potential confounders (sex, free school lunch status, grade, and self-reported school grade). Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and confidence intervals were calculated. Results indicated that being associated with Mexican-American cultural identity was significantly associated with a decreased mixed use of alcohol and drugs (AOR= .97), heavy drinking (AOR= .98), and regular marijuana use (AOR= .97). A stronger ethnic identity was protective against engaging in risky health behaviors among these Mexican-American adolescents.

Acculturation, Social Context, and Drug Use: Findings from a Sample of Hispanic Adolescents

“…Though reliable data on adolescent Hispanic substance use has proved elusive due to the issues discussed above, acculturation has remained a salient factor in most studies of the phenomenon (Neff et al 1987;Caetano 1987;Gilbert 1987;Amaro et al 1990;Love et al 2006;Miller et al 2008b). The traditional view of the acculturative process suggests that as individuals become more assimilated they begin to adopt customs and behaviors common to the new culture.…”

“…The process of acculturation has been examined relative to a number of psychological and health outcomes, including depression (Cortes 2003), psychological distress (Gong et al 2003), poor nutrition (Love et al 2006), and prenatal health behaviors (Zambrana et al 1997), among others. A fewer number of studies have examined acculturation relative to criminological variables including gang membership (Lopez and Brummett 2003;Miller et al 2009), domestic violence victimization (Hazen and Soriano 2007), and fear of crime (Brown and Benedict 2004).…”

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Adolescent Substance Use: Mediation by Individual, Family, and School Factors

“…Given that our sample involved middle school adolescents, those at higher risk for substance use may still be in school. In addition, the Hispanics in the current sample may have been more likely to have been born in the United States or were more acculturated than Hispanics in other samples, thereby contributing to the higher rates of use among Hispanics observed in this study (Brook et al, 1998;Chen et al, 2002;De La Rosa, 2002;Epstein et al, 2001;Litrownik et al, 2000;Love et al, 2006;McQueen et al, 2003;Unger et al, 2000). Notes: Parameters for race effects are reported for Hispanic and Asian dummy variables compared with Caucasian as the reference group.…”

Parent–Child Acculturation Discrepancies as a Risk Factor for Substance Use among Hispanic Adolescents in Southern California

“…Not surprisingly, the stress of the acculturation process can cause psychological and behavioral problems among adolescents. Among Hispanic-American adolescents, acculturation to the United States culture has been associated with an increased risk of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use [2][3][4][5][6][7]. The association between acculturation and substance use probably involves several mechanisms, including the more individualistic and rebellious social norms for adolescents in the United States, loss or rejection of traditional Hispanic cultural norms such as familism [8,9], and the stress of navigating two cultures simultaneously and feeling marginalized from one or both of those cultures [10].…”