NCJ Number
171808
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1996) Pages: 901-922
Date Published
1996
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Data collected during 1990-93 in Dade County (Fla.) were used to compare the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs among non-Hispanic white, black, Cuban, Nicaraguan, Colombian, and Puerto Rican adolescent males.
Abstract
The first wave of data collection took place in the fall of 1990, when participants were in the 6th and 7th grades and had an average age of 12. The second wave of data was collected in the fall of 1991; the third wave was collected in the spring of 1993, when the participants averaged 14 years of age. The third-wave sample included 5,370 adolescents, of whom 3,403 were Hispanic; about half the Hispanic sample was foreign born. Results revealed significant increases in lifetime use and the magnitude of use of all three substances over the three data collection periods for all six groups. Non-Hispanic white and Hispanic adolescents had higher substance use rates than did black adolescents. Foreign-born Hispanics reported positive relationships between the length of time in the country and drug use. Length of time of time in the country was related to the lifetime use of all substances for Cubans and for the past-year use of alcohol and illicit drugs. It was also significantly related to lifetime and past-year use of alcohol and for lifetime illicit drug use among Nicaraguans. Substance use did not vary greatly for different Hispanic groups, but caution should be used in offering generalizations, especially among young groups with diverse nativity and immigration histories. Tables, notes, appended methodological information, and 39 references (Author abstract modified)