Cultural Influences on Substance Use Among Hispanic Adolescents and Young Adults: Findings From Project RED PMC

This minority group is expected to increase from 15 to 30% of the US population by 2050, nearly tripling from 46.7 to 132.8 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008a). Recent estimates indicate that most Hispanics are of Mexican origin (64%), followed by Puerto Rican (9.6%), Central American (7.2%), other Hispanics/Latinos (6.7%), South American (5.5%), Cuban (3.6%), and Dominican (2.6%). Further, Hispanic Americans are a young population, with one-third (34.3%) being less than 18 years of age, compared with 26% of the total US population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). “When police officers abused their power to silence people asserting their constitutional right to free speech and assembly, it erodes the community’s trust in law enforcement,” Clarke said. Clarke said the police department makes no concession for the particular vulnerabilities of children, and treats them just the same as adults.

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the United States: Age Groups and Demographic Characteristics

Thus, one construct that may be relevant to research on sociocultural determinants of health behavior among Hispanics is bicultural self-efficacy which encompasses multiple domains of functioning such as social groundedness and role repertoire. Social groundedness represents the level of confidence an individual has in establishing social networks in both cultural groups (David et al., 2009). It is hypothesized that the ability to establish and maintain social networks in both cultures improves a person’s capacity to cope with the demands of living in a bicultural context (LaFromboise et al., 1993). Role repertoire refers to one’s level of confidence in using or learning culturally appropriate behaviors in relation to both cultural groups (David et al., 2009).

Associated Data

Stigma related to participation in peer to peer support and church-based treatment programs was frequently cited. Participants attributed this stigma to ignorance about the problems that arise from alcohol abuse, unfamiliarity of behavioral health issues often intersected with these problems, and inexperience with the benefits of treatment. Research suggests that stigmatization of alcoholism itself keeps people from seeking treatment (Fortney et al., 2004; Keyes et al., compare different sober houses 2010); stigma that exists at higher rates among Hispanics (Smith, Dawson, Goldstein, & Grant, 2010). Stigma may be exacerbated by lack of knowledge and recent findings that suggest some Hispanic men may have limited knowledge about how to seek help or change alcohol misuse-related behaviors (Ornelas et al., 2015). Participants in the present study attributed both the social stigma and self-stigmatization to a lack of understanding of alcohol abuse and treatment.

Latino Americans And Alcohol Addiction Treatment

Second, the data collection methodology used across sites was standardized for alcohol consumption, MetS and its individual components, along with centralized sample processing. First, the cross-sectional nature limits our ability to examine temporal or causal relationships. Second, alcohol use was self-reported, which can lead to recall bias; however, this was partly addressed by adding specific time frames (i.e., the week) as a reference point. Finally, as noted previously,31 inferences about Hispanic/Latino individuals beyond the targeted areas covered by the study sites may not be completely appropriate.

Tailor substance use-related public health prevention messages

Hispanic men are more likely than Hispanic women and non-Hispanic White (NHW) men to engage in high risk alcohol consumption (Caetano, 2003; Caetano, Ramisetty-Mikler, Floyd, & McGrath, 2006). Hispanic men experience disproportionate levels of adverse health consequences of alcohol abuse when compared to NHW men (Caetano, 2003). Research suggests that Hispanic men present with alcohol-induced liver diseases such as alcohol steatosis and cirrhosis at significantly younger ages than NHW men (Levy, Catana, Durbin-Johnson, Halsted, & Medici, 2015). Inclusively, social consequences of alcohol use disproportionally affect Hispanic men when compared to NHW (Caetano, 2003).

Cultural practices include items such as language use, cultural customs, and social affiliations. In terms of identity, ethnic identification is the extent to which an individual endorses their ethnic group. With regard to US immigration, there is also Americanism or the extent to which an individual is attached to the US. Though each domain can have an influence of substance use, the retention of Hispanic cultural practices is considered protective against substance use including alcohol use (Schwartz et al., 2011).

Theoretical Models

1. Building on this framework, we propose that acculturation will function as a moderator between indicators of sociocultural adaptation (e.g., bicultural self-efficacy domains) and an indicator of psychological adaptation (e.g., alcohol use).
2. If families and communities do not maintain and support attributes of the heritage culture, adolescents might reject, forget, or never learn about their culture of origin, leading to acculturation discrepancies between adolescents and parents (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001).
3. Research from 2013 found that 71% to 87% of social workers reported working with people facing the condition.
4. Starting before dawn, Phoenix police routinely woke up individuals sleeping on public property, ran their names for warrants, detained them to ask questions and told them to move.

While binge drinking can bring upon health problems and lead to serious risks such as unintentional injuries like motor vehicle crashes, falls, burns, and alcohol poisoning. “From 1992 through the present, Hispanic/Latino 8th graders have been roughly twice as likely to report binge drinking as non-Hispanic White 8th graders, and 3 times as likely as African American 8th graders,” according to a 2015 study. The overall treatment program for an alcohol use disorder as specified by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) would not vary substantially.

Thus, we can identify different drinking patterns across Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Mexican Americans have a lower abstention rate and relatively higher frequency of consuming five or more alcohol and drug detox treatment blog drinks on occasion compared with Puerto Ricans. Although Cuban Americans do not have a high rate of abstention, they have lower rate of drinking five or more drinks on occasion compared with Mexican Americans.

In addition to the typical stressors encountered during adolescence, Hispanic adolescents may experience acculturative stress, perceived discrimination, and conflicts with parents about acculturation, which can lead to maladaptive behaviors such as substance use. Personal cultural resources may help Hispanic youth cope with cultural stressors and avoid substance use, but little is known about how such factors affect decisions about substance use. The participants completed surveys annually about cultural issues such as acculturation, ethnic identity, and perceived discrimination; family and peer relationships; and use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana.

To examine differences in alcohol consumption among Hispanic national groups in the United States [Puerto Ricans, Mexican, Cuban, and Dominican South Central (D/SC) Americans] and identify sociodemographic predictors of drinking and binge drinking (four drinks for women and five for men in a 2-hr period). Early theories of acculturation assumed that immigrants replace their heritage culture with a new culture. Modern acculturation theories (Berry, 1980; Schwartz et al., 2010) propose that individuals can adopt aspects of the new culture but still identify strongly with the heritage culture. Hispanics represent 16% of the population of the United States (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, & Albert, 2011) and a larger proportion of the population of students in many urban public schools. Hispanic adolescents in the United States experience numerous challenges as they attempt to navigate multiple cultures (Phinney, 1990; Schwartz, Unger, Zamboanga, & Szapocznik, 2010; Szapocznik, Prado, Burlew, Williams, & Santisteban, 2007). (https://www.furtenbachadventures.com/)

Findings from Ornelas et al. (2015) indicate that some Hispanic men prefer to discuss their alcohol use in Spanish with trusted providers and have therefore suggested the use of promotores as a viable strategy. Promotores are community health advisors that often share sociodemographic, linguistic, and cultural characteristics with the people they serve and have been demonstrated to enhance participant comfort and trust making intervention communication more efficacious (Ornelas et al., 2015). Cultural phenomena such as acculturation, cultural values, ethnic identity, and perceived discrimination influence adolescent substance use, but few studies have investigated these influences longitudinally. To fill this gap, my colleagues and I started surveying a group of Hispanic adolescents in the Los Angeles area in 2005. The students’ mean age in ninth grade was 14, and the group was approximately half male and half female (see Table 1).

Over half (58%) were women, 40% had greater than a high school education, 23% were U.S. born (including mainland and U.S. territories), 25% preferred English as their first language, 50% were working either full or part-time, and 49% were married or living with a partner. find a a. near you alcoholics anonymous Almost 30% were former drinkers (33%women, 27%men), and 52% were current drinkers (41%women, 63%men). Overall, 26% had no risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD) (39%women, 14%men), 65% were low risk for AUD (56%women, 74%men), and 9% were at-risk for AUD (5%women, 12.2%men).