An epidemiological comparison of Mexican-American and white non-Hispanic 8th- and 12th-grade students' substance use.
Surveys of drug and alcohol use were conducted with a national probability sample of 8th- and 12th-grade Mexican-American and White non-Hispanic youth. The drug and alcohol epidemiology is representative of US Mexican-American youth residing in communities with populations of 2500 or more, at least 10% of whom are Mexican Americans. Mexican-American 8th graders reported generally higher rates of use than White non-Hispanics based on life-time prevalence and use in last month. They also reported higher frequency of high-risk drug behaviors. The pattern was reversed among 12th-grade students. The impact of differential school dropout rates is discussed as a probable cause for this reversal.
Chavez
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Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523.
Swaim
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D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*