Substance Use among Latino/a Adolescents

• In Event: 2-201 - Findings on adolescent substance use when diversity and inclusion are prioritized

Integrative Statement

Background: Latinos are the largest growing population in the US, however, this population remains understudied and underrepresented in research studies. Few studies address the variation that exists within Latino groups of youth. Oftentimes, Latinos are studied as one monolithic group, however, socio cultural and legal/political variation exists within Latino populations. In this paper, we update and extend on Delva et al (2005), to examine binge drinking, marijuana, cigarette, and cocaine use among 8th and 10th grade Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and ‘Other Hispanic’ ethnic groups.
Method: A self-report survey was administered in schools to US nationally representative samples of 8th and 10th grade students annually from 2005 to 2015 (n=20,795), as part of the multi-year cross-sectional Monitoring The Future (MTF) study (Miech et al., 2018). Four multivariate logistic regressions (with weighted samples to approximate national estimates) were conducted to examine the sociodemographic correlates of binge drinking, marijuana, cigarette, and cocaine use among Latino/a ethnic groups. All logistic regression models controlled for the regional location of schools.
Results: The majority of adolescents self-identified as Mexican (41.4%) or “other Hispanic” (42.7%), followed by Puerto Rican and Cuban ethnicities. Binge drinking ranged from 14.1% among Mexican adolescents to 11.9%, Other Hispanic. Past 12-month marijuana use ranged from 25.9% among Puerto Rican adolescents to 20.5%, other Hispanic. Cigarette use ranged from 10.9% for Cuban adolescents to 6.6% for other Hispanic. Lastly, cocaine use ranged from 4% among Cuban adolescents to 2.4% among Puerto Rican and Hispanic adolescents. Table 1 presents detailed descriptive statistics by ethnic group.
Ethnic variation of substance use was found for marijuana, cigarette, and cocaine use. The binge drinking model reveals significant grade level and parent education differences, such that 10th graders are significantly more likely than 8th graders to binge drink, and moderate and high levels of parent education significantly lower the odds of binge drinking compared to low parent education levels. However, there were no significant Latino/a ethnic differences in binge drinking. Higher odds of marijuana use were found among 10th graders and Mexican and Puerto compared to 8th graders and “other Latino” groups. However, females, compared to males, and having parents with moderate or high levels of education, as well as living with both parents significantly lowered the odds of marijuana use. The cigarette use model demonstrates significantly higher odds of use among 10th graders and Mexican and Cuban adolescents, and significantly lower odds of use among females and living with both parents. Lastly, the cocaine model shows significantly higher odds of use among 10th graders and Mexican adolescents, and significantly lower odds of use among adolescents whose parents have a moderate or high level of education (See Table 2).
Discussion: Significant variation exists among Latino/a adolescent subgroups and marijuana, cigarette, and cocaine use. These results are important to better understand, and address, ethnically diverse youth’s substance use. Latino/a’s are the fastest growing ethnic minority in the US, however, Latino/as are not a monolithic group and additional within group studies are necessary to unveil variation that exists.

Authors

• Berenice Castillo, University of Michigan
  Presenting Author

• John Schulenberg, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cristina B Bares, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author