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. 2021;42(4):796-805.
doi: 10.1080/08897077.2020.1856289. Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Conceptualizing protective family context and its effect on substance use: Comparisons across diverse ethnic-racial youth

Kevin Constante  1 , Edward D Huntley  2 , Yajuan Si  2 , Emma Schillinger  1 , Christine Wagner  2 , Daniel P Keating  1   2
Affiliations

Conceptualizing protective family context and its effect on substance use: Comparisons across diverse ethnic-racial youth

Kevin Constante et al. Subst Abus. 2021.

Abstract

Background: Although family behaviors are known to be important for buffering youth against substance use, research in this area often evaluates a particular type of family interaction and how it shapes adolescents' behaviors, when it is likely that youth experience the co-occurrence of multiple types of family behaviors that may be protective. Methods: The current study (N = 1716, 10th and 12th graders, 55% female) examined associations between protective family context, a latent variable comprised of five different measures of family behaviors, and past 12 months substance use: alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and e-cigarettes. Results: A multi-group measurement invariance assessment supported protective family context as a coherent latent construct with partial (metric) measurement invariance among Black, Latinx, and White youth. A multi-group path model indicated that protective family context was significantly associated with less substance use for all youth, but of varying magnitudes across ethnic-racial groups. Conclusion: These results emphasize the importance of evaluating psychometric properties of family-relevant latent variables on the basis of group membership in order to draw appropriate inferences on how such family variables relate to substance use among diverse samples.

Keywords: Adolescence; ethnicity; family dynamics; substance use.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Percentages of self-reported substance use past 12 months by ethnic-racial group.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Multi-group path model. The effect of protective family context on alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, and e-cigarette/ vaporizers exposure in the past 12 months. Model fit: χ2(110) = 398.443, p < .001; CFI =.905; TLI = .837; RMSEA =. 070, 90 % CI =.06, .08; SRMR = .057. Covariates include gender, parent education, and grade, and were regressed on protective family context and each type of substance use. Model depicts unstandardized coefficients and standard error. Parental monitoring factor loading freely estimated for Black youth (italicized) and constrained as equal for Latinx and White youth (bold). All other factor loadings held equal across groups. Paths freely estimated for Black youth (italicized) and constraint as equal for Latinx and White youth (bold). Note. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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