Cultural Change and Likelihood of Substance Use Initiation Among Mexican-Origin Youth: A Parallel Process Growth Model Approach

Introduction. Mexican-origin youth have high risk for early substance use (SU) initiation. Understanding risk pathways for SU initiation are needed to inform prevention efforts. Cross-sectional research has generally shown that increased acculturation (adaptation to American cultural practices, values and identity) and decreased enculturation (maintenance of heritage (e.g., Mexican) culture) are risk factors for SU among MO youth. This work is limited in not investigating acculturation and enculturation as developmental processes. Although longitudinal studies on cultural orientation change and SU risk have started to emerge, little research exists on cultural change and SU initiation as parallel developmental processes. The current study investigates links between cultural adaptation and changes in SU intentions among MO youth. The Theory of Planned Behavior supports our focus on substance use intentions as a key outcome, which has been found to be a precursor to SU behavior.

Method. We used self-report data from 674 Mexican-origin youth in Northern California across five yearly observations between ages 10-15. Cultural orientation measures included English and Spanish use (Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995), American cultural values and Traditional Family Values (Knight et al., 2010), and Mexican-American Ethnic Pride (MAEP; adapted from Phinney, 1992; Thayer et al. 2002). Substance use intentions (SUI) were measured using nine items (Gibbons et al., 2004) focused on plans for future SU. We investigated five parallel process growth models, which tested the associations between the intercepts and slopes of the cultural orientation growth model and the SUI (0=no SU intentions, 1=any SU intentions) growth model. The main parameter of interest was the covariance between growth curve slopes, which addressed whether cultural change was related to increasing SUI risk over time.

Results. We found that that steeper increases in English use (b =-.014, SE=.01, p<.01), traditional family values (b=-0.01, SE=.004, p<.08), and Mexican-American ethnic pride (b=-0.02, SE= .005, p<.01) were each related to slower increases in the likelihood of any SUI over time. Steeper increases in American cultural values were related to increased likelihood of any SUI over time (b=0.02, SE=.01, p<.01). Changes in Spanish use were not related to changes in the likelihood of SUI over time (b=-.01, SE=.02).

Discussion. This study is novel in investigating cultural change and SU risk as parallel developmental processes. Changes in English language use, American values, traditional family values and ethnic pride may be concurrently related to changes in SU intentions. Prevention scientists should consider proximal mechanisms by which cultural adaptation may influence SU risk over time.