Linguistic acculturation associated with higher marijuana and polydrug use among Hispanic adolescents.
Hispanic sixth and seventh graders in 22 New York City middle schools (mean age: 12.66 years) completed self-report questionnaires with items related to drug use (cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana) use and linguistic acculturation at two assessments (N = 1299 at baseline; N = 1038 at 1-year follow-up). Adolescents who spoke English with their parents smoked marijuana more frequently than those who spoke Spanish with their parents at both surveys. By the 1-year follow-up, students who spoke English with their parents and bilingual students who spoke English and Spanish with their parents engaged in greater polydrug use than those who spoke Spanish with their parents.
Epstein
J A
JA
Institute for Prevention Research, Cornell University, Weill Medical College, New York, New York 10021, USA. jepstein@mail.med.cornell.edu
Botvin
G J
GJ
Diaz
T
T
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index