Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Dec;26(4):864-879.
doi: 10.1111/jora.12235. Epub 2015 Nov 4.

Risk and Protective Factors for Early Substance Use Initiation: A Longitudinal Study of Mexican-Origin Youth

Olivia E Atherton  1 , Rand D Conger  1 , Emilio Ferrer  1 , Richard W Robins  1
Affiliations

Risk and Protective Factors for Early Substance Use Initiation: A Longitudinal Study of Mexican-Origin Youth

Olivia E Atherton et al. J Res Adolesc. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Substance use initiation in adolescence is a critical issue, given its association with substance dependency and associated problems in adulthood. However, due to the dearth of fine-grained, longitudinal studies, the factors associated with early initiation are poorly understood, especially in minority youth. The present study examined substance use initiation in a sample of Mexican-origin youth (N=674) assessed annually from age 10 to 16. Using discrete-time survival analyses, we found that initiation escalated rapidly from late childhood to adolescence, and we identified a wide range of factors, from the individual to the cultural level of analysis, that significantly increased or decreased risk for early initiation. These findings have important implications for programs aimed at preventing early substance use by Mexican-origin youth.

Keywords: Mexican-origin families; adolescence; development; longitudinal; substance use.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lifetime prevalence of substance use initiation, separately for any substance and each individual substance.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphical representation of SEM-based discrete-time survival mediation analyses. For time-varying predictors and mediators, we conducted latent growth curve models to calculate the growth trajectory over time of each construct. Then, we saved the intercepts (representing the value of the predictor at age 10) and slopes (representing growth over time in the mediator) to be used as manifest variables in the mediation models. Time-invariant predictors and mediators are entered as is into the model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Altonji J, Cattan S, Ware I. Identifying sibling influence on teenage substance use. Institute for Fiscal Studies Working Paper. 2013 http://www.ifs.org.uk/wps/wp1304.pdf.
    1. Amey CH, Albrecht SL. Race and ethnic differences in adolescent drug use: The impact of family structure and quantity and quality of parental interaction. Journal of Drug Issues. 1998;28:283–298.
    1. Austin A, Hospital M, Wagner EF, Leon-Morris S. Motivation for substance use among minority youth: Targets for intervention. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2010;39(4):399–407. - PubMed
    1. Bachman JG, O’Malley PM, Johnston LD, Schulenberg JE, Wallace JM. Racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between parental education and substance use among U.S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students: Findings from the Monitoring the Future project. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 2011;72(2):279–85. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bahr SJ, Hoffman JP, Yang X. Parental and peer influences on the risk of adolescent drug use. Journal of Primary Prevention. 2005;26(6):529–51. - PubMed

Publication types