Gender, Acculturation and Alcohol Use among Latina/o Adolescents: A Multi-Ethnic Comparison

Abstract

This is the first study to examine the relationship between acculturation and alcohol use by gender and ethnicity using a nationally representative sample of Hispanic and non-Hispanic white adolescents. Specifically, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to explore alcohol use and binge drinking for a sample that includes 6792 non-Hispanic whites, 910 Mexican Americans, 290 Cuban Americans, and 336 Puerto Ricans. Bivariate results reveal significant gender differences in alcohol use among first generation Mexican American, first generation Puerto Rican, and second generation Cuban American adolescents. In addition, these results indicate binge drinking differs significantly by gender among first generation Mexican American, first generation Cuban American, third plus generation Puerto Rican, and third plus generation non-Hispanic white adolescents. Multivariate logistic regression reveals that gender also moderates the effect of acculturation as well as ethnicity on alcohol use and abuse. Among both males and females, first generation immigrants are significantly less likely than third plus generation immigrants to use alcohol and binge drink while selective acculturation significantly reduces the odds of both behaviors. However, the effects of immigrant generation and selective acculturation on binge drinking are larger for females. Further, the trajectories that alcohol use and binge drinking follow with acculturation differ significantly by gender and ethnicity. These results reaffirm the need to further develop theoretical models and intervention strategies that are both gender-specific and culturally-specific, targeting high risk groups in particular in these efforts.

Health-Related Issues in Latina Youth: Racial/Ethnic, Gender, and Generational Status Differences

“…After adjusting for sociodemographic differences, third generation reported less lifetime alcohol use and fewer friends using alcohol, but higher intent to use alcohol and marijuana in the next 12 months, than both first and second generation. These findings are contradictory to previous reports that first generation Latina/o youth are less likely to engage in alcohol use compared with more acculturated youth [1,20,32]. Overall, healthy behaviors did not change with greater acculturation among Latinas, which also contradicts previous findings [18].…”

“…Health disparities in Latino/a(s) have become of increasing interest because this population has grown significantly in recent decades, emerging as the largest minority group in the United States [1]. Latino/a(s) are vulnerable to poor health outcomes for a variety of reasons, including lack of health care services [2,3], environmental exposures [4], and potentially detrimental health-related behaviors [5].…”

“…To address these limitations, the present study examines vulnerabilities of preadolescent Latina youth, aged 10e11 years, on a broad range of health issues of importance in adolescence by addressing the following specific questions: Are there disparities in suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms; tobacco, alcohol, and illicit substance use; violence exposure; injury prevention; obesity; and HRQOL (1) in Latina compared with AfricanAmerican and white females; (2) between Latina and Latino youth; and (3) among Latinas related to their generational status? This research extends previous work that compared these three racial/ethnic groups across various health issues but without examining gender and generational status [15].…”

Progression to Problem Drinking Among Mexican American and White European First-Year College Students: A Multiple Group Analysis

“…The majority of study participants had lived in the United States for a large proportion of their lives (years in the United States, M = 16.20, SD = 3.92, range: 1-19 years) and were similarly oriented to Mexican and American cultures (ARSMA-II Mexican, M = 3.77, SD = 0.59; and Anglo, M = 3.79, SD = 0.40). Given that the baseline heavy drinking episode rate was similar among Mexican American men and women, the current fi ndings support previous studies that found an association between U.S. cultural orientation and drinking among women but not men (Wahl and Eitle, 2010). Additionally, it is possible that cultural orientation alone may not adequately represent ethnic identity.…”

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

“…High levels of familism, or strength of family relationships, is a traditionally Hispanic value, and high parental respect is a traditionally Asian value (Kaplan et al, 2001;Unger et al, 2002). Hispanic adolescents with higher familism have decreased risk for cigarette initiation (Kaplan et al, 2001) and heavy drinking (Wahl and Eitle, 2010), and Asians may be less likely to disobey their parents' rules related to substance use .…”