NCJ Number
195615
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 37 Issue: 4 Dated: March 2002 Pages: 429-456
Date Published
March 2002
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This paper critically reviews research on the role of acculturation (the influence of traditional European-American cultural values) in the substance-using behaviors of Latino adolescents and the historical legacy that influences research on this topic.
Abstract
The term "Latinos" includes individuals of Cuban-American, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, and South-American and Central-American ancestry, regardless of race. This review examines not only the influence of acculturation on the substance-using behaviors of Latinos but also on the mental well-being of Latino adolescents. Recent research findings have documented the association between acculturation and substance use among Latino adolescents. This paper also examines the limitations of the current research and proposes the development of acculturation scales that focus on measuring the role that predominant Latino and American values, attitudes, and norms play in the substance-use behavior of Latino adolescents. In addition, the author proposes the development of a conceptual framework that accounts for the impact of acculturation-related stress and the mitigating impact of acculturation-related stress and the mitigating factors that affect such stress on the substance-use behavior of Latino adolescents. The author advises that the effects of acculturation-related stress and accompanying mitigating factors could assist in explaining the increasingly high rates of substance use reported for Latino adolescents. The author recommends that academic and professional training programs be developed, given the special problems in developing theoretical models to explain the effects of acculturation on the substance-using behaviors of Latino adolescents. Such models must be multidimensional to reflect the true nature of the acculturation process. Moreover, because of the wide range of ethnic differences within these populations, models must have flexible components that depict the acculturation processes that are relevant to the particular subgroups being studied. In order to provide information that can be used by policymakers and health-care practitioners for prevention programs, models must include an evaluation of the acculturation process from both asset-based and risk-based conceptualizations. 3 figures, 2 tables, and 31 references