Descriptive Norms and Substance Use Among Latino College Students

Introduction: Latinos are enrolling in higher education in greater numbers (Fry, 2011). Recent research suggests that descriptive norms may operate differently for Latinos than for non-Latino White students (LaBrie et al., 2012). Further, there are important gender differences in alcohol use behaviors among Latinos college students (Corbin, Vaughan, & Fromme, 2008). Given that norms challenges remain a hallmark of college drinking prevention, research is needed to understand how norms predict substance use among Latino college students. The aim of this presentation is to test gender as a moderator of the relationship between norms and substance use outcomes. 

Methods: This secondary data analysis utilized data from the 2009 American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA). Participants were 4,336 self-identified Latino undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 25. Independent variables were gender, alcohol and marijuana use norms, and gender by norms interaction terms. Covariates included year in school, fraternity or sorority membership, enrollment status, and enrollment in a Hispanic Serving Institution. The dependent variables were amount of alcohol used during the last drinking episode and frequency of marijuana use in the past 30 days. Two linear regression analyses were conducted for each substance use outcome. 

Results: Linear regression results for alcohol consumption were statistically significant, F (9, 4,129) = 126.02, p < .001 and accounted for 21.6% of the variance in the outcome. The interaction term for gender by norms was statistically significant (b =.14, p < .001) suggesting gender moderates the relationship between norms and alcohol consumption. In this case, the slope for women was found to be less steep than for men. Likewise, results for marijuana use were statistically significant, F (9, 4,167) = 24.83, p < .001 and accounted for 5.1% of the variance in the outcome. The interaction term for gender by marijuana norms was also statistically significant (b =.06, p = .008) suggesting gender moderates the relationship between norms and frequency of marijuana use. Like alcohol use, the slope for women was less steep than for men.

Conclusions: The results of the current study indicate that for both Latinos and Latinas, as students estimate greater use by peers, alcohol and marijuana use increases goes up. However, the strength of this relationship is greater for men than for women. It may be that, for women, the perceived “typical” student on their campus may not represent women’s view of themselves; and thus, the perception is less salient to their own substance use. Implications for prevention will be discussed.