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. 2021 Jan;35(1):20-27.
doi: 10.1177/0890117120927527. Epub 2020 May 27.

Socioenvironmental Risk Factors for Adolescent Marijuana Use in a United States-Mexico Border Community

Elizabeth Salerno Valdez  1 , Luis Valdez  1 , Josephine Korchmaros  2 , David O Garcia  3 , Sally Stevens  2 , Samantha Sabo  4 , Scott Carvajal  3
Affiliations

Socioenvironmental Risk Factors for Adolescent Marijuana Use in a United States-Mexico Border Community

Elizabeth Salerno Valdez et al. Am J Health Promot. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: We examined how socioenvironmental risk factors unique to the United States-Mexico border, defined as border community and immigration stress, normalization of drug trafficking, and perceived disordered neighborhood stress, contribute to tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use among adolescents residing there.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: The study was conducted at a high school on the United States-Mexico border.

Subjects: A sample of 445 primarily Hispanic students (ages 14-18).

Measure: Perceived Disordered Neighborhood Stress Scale, Border Community and Immigration Stress Scale, and Normalization of Drug Trafficking Scale.

Analysis: Logistic regression assessed the association between the socioenvironmental risk factors and past 30-day tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use.

Results: Participants with higher border community and immigration stress scores were significantly more likely to have used tobacco (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.41, P < .01) and alcohol (aOR = 1.31, P < .01) in the past 30 days. Perceived disordered neighborhood stress also was associated with past 30-day alcohol use (aOR = 1.46, P < .00). The normalization of drug trafficking was associated with past 30-day marijuana use (aOR = 1.45, P < .05).

Conclusions: Public health practitioners, educational institutions, and policy makers should consider the economic and normative environment of the United States-Mexico border for future substance use prevention and risk reduction efforts targeting border adolescents.

Keywords: United States-Mexico border; adolescents; age specific; psychometric analysis; racial minority groups; research methods; school; specific populations; specific settings; substance use; underserved populations.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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