Gender Differences in Drug Resistance Skills of Youth in Guanajuato, Mexico

Abstract

Research is limited or absent on Mexican adolescents’ exposure to substance offers, ways of dealing with these offers, and possible gender differences in responses to offers. Extending U.S.-based research, this study examines how youth living in the Mexican state of Guanajuato employ the four drug resistance strategies—refuse, explain, avoid, and leave—that are part of the Keepin’ It REAL evidence-based drug prevention intervention. The analysis uses cross-sectional survey data from 702 students enrolled in eight alternative secondary education sites in 2007. Participants reported the drug resistance behaviors they used to deal with offers of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Using multivariate regression, findings indicate most youth had developed repertoires of drug resistance strategies that involved multiple REAL strategies and some other strategy as well. For those receiving offers, the most common strategy was to refuse the offer with a simple ‘‘no.’’ However, males used all the strategies significantly more often than females for situations involving cigarettes and marijuana as well as when using refuse and non-REAL strategies for alcohol. Possible reasons for the gender difference in use of strategies are discussed. The findings can help inform effective prevention programs based on teaching culturally appropriate drug resistance and communication skills.

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“…Social skills training compared with pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of unipolar depression. which is designed to equip youth in middle school with a repertoire of skills to resist substance use offers (Gosin, Marsiglia, & Hecht, 2003 (Alberts, Miller-Rassulo, & Hecht, 1991;Kulis, Marsiglia, Castillo, Becerra, & Nieri, 2008;Kulis, Marsiglia, Ayers, Calderón-Tena, & Nuño-Gutierrez, 2011;Marsiglia, Kulis, Martinez Rodriguez, Becerra, & Castillo, 2009). The L2W curriculum is designed to reflect the social contexts in which UAI youth are exposed to substances and culturally influenced ways of responding to offers to use them.…”

The Development of Videos in Culturally Grounded Drug Prevention for Rural Native Hawaiian Youth

“…A similar adaptational process has occurred with another drug prevention program ( keepin’ it REAL ), which is an evidence-based, culturally grounded drug prevention program for Mexican/Mexican American youth of the southwest United States. keepin’ it REAL is in various stages of adaptation to related youth populations in Monterrey and Guanajuato, Mexico (Kulis, Marsiglia, Ayers, Calderón-Tena, & Nuño-Gutierrez, 2011; Marsiglia, Kulis, Martinez Rodriguez, Becerra, & Castillo, 2009), and in Galicia, Spain (Marsiglia, Kulis, Luengo, Nieri, & Villar, 2008). Similarly, a fully conceived video-based prevention program for rural Hawaiian youth could be adapted to related youth populations in other Pacific islands or regions.…”

Long-Term Effects of the keepin’ it REAL Model Program in Mexico: Substance Use Trajectories of Guadalajara Middle School Students

“…In alignment with these norms, older adolescents in Mexico report using the REAL drug resistance strategies in gender-specific ways. Males use the strategies more often than females and their use of the strategies is more strongly associated with lower levels of substance use than for females (Kulis et al, 2011, 2012). When keepin’ it REAL was implemented in Mexico, the short-term effects also demonstrated gender differences, but in a different direction.…”

“…We selected keepin’ it REAL because the original curriculum reflects the experiences of Mexican–American youth in a region bordering Mexico and because it uses an interactive approach to primary prevention that is a highly effective format with preadolescents (Kulis et al, 2005; Marsiglia & Hecht, 2005). Although the cultural context of Mexico differs from that of Mexican–American youth living in the US, preliminary studies indicated that the core elements of the keepin’ it REAL intervention, including the drug resistance strategies it teaches, were relevant to Mexican youth from different regions (Kulis, Marsiglia, Ayers, Booth, & Nuño-Gutiérrez, 2012; Kulis, Marsiglia, Ayers, Calderón-Tena, & Nuño-Gutierrez 2011; Kulis, Marsiglia, Castillo, Bercerra, & Nieri, 2008; Marsiglia, Kulis, Martínez-Rodríguez, Becerra, & Castillo, 2009). …”

“…Having a range of drug resistance strategies from which to choose allows adolescents to adapt to different scenarios in which substances are made available or offered to them (Wright, Nichols, Graber, Brooks-Gunn, & Botvin, 2004). The keepin’ it REAL curriculum teaches students the four resistance strategies—Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave (REAL)—that are used most commonly by youth in the US and Mexico (Kulis et al, 2008, 2011, 2012; Marsiglia & Hecht, 2005; Marsiglia et al, 2009). Refuse is a direct “no”; Explain is a refusal accompanied by a reason for declining the substance offer; Avoid is the act of not attending an event or participating in a gathering where alcohol or drugs will be available; Leave is removing one’s self from a situation where alcohol or drugs are present.…”