MIGRATION AND SUBSTANCE USE: EVIDENCE FROM THE U.S. NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY*

Abstract

Representative data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey are used to investigate the substance use patterns of immigrants and compare them to those of the native born populations. The information examined is from the 1991 supplementary Drug and Alcohol Use Data File, which examined the self-reported substance use behaviors of approximately 21,000 adults aged 18–44. Findings indicate that immigrants to the U.S. in the late twentieth century are less likely to use alcohol and other drugs than are native born citizens. Additional findings suggest assimilation processes by which exposure to mainstream American society leads to patterns of alcohol and illicit drug use among long term immigrants that approximates that of the native born population. The patterns of substance use observed among immigrants, however, are not consistent with acculturative stress mechanisms. These findings provide an important and representative profile of the substance use patterns of one of the largest international migration streams of the past one hundred years.

• Immigrants
• Substance use
• Substance use treatment
• Assimilation processes
• At-risk
• Acculturation

RESUMEN

Los datos representantes de la encuesta nacional de la salud de los E.E.U.U. se utilizan para investigar los modelos del uso de sustancias de immigrantes, y para compararlos a los de la poblacion nativa. La información examinada es del archivo de datos suplementario del Uso de Drogas y Alcohol en 1991, que examinó los comportamientos auto-reportados del uso de sustancias de aproximadamente 21,000 adultos de 18 a 44 años. Los resultados indican que los immigrantes a los E.E.U.U. en el fin del vigésimo cíglo, son menos probables utilizar el alcohol y otras drogas que los que son nacido en EEUU. Resultados adicionales exponen procesos de assimilación por los cuales la exposición a la sociedad Americana principal lleva a modelos del uso de alcohol y drogas ilícitas entre immigrantes a largo plazo que aproximan las de la población nativa. Los modelos del uso de sustancias observadas entre immigrantes, sin embargo, no son constantes con los mecanismos aculturativos de estrés. Estos resultados proporcionan un perfil importante y representativo de los modelos del uso de sustancias de las secuencias internacionales más grandes de la migración de los últimos cientos años.

RÉSUMÉ

Les données représentatives de l'Enquête sur la santé nationale dans les Etats-Unis sont utilisées à examiner les modèles d'usage de substances parmi les immigrants et à comparer ces modèles à ceux-là de la population locale. L'information examinée provient du Fichier de données supplémentaires sur l'usage de drogue et d'alcool dans 1991, qui a examiné les comportements soi-rapportés d'usage de substances de quelque 21,000 adultes agés de 18 à 44 ans. Les résultats indiquent que les immigrés aux Etats-Unis vers la fin du vingtième siècle sont moins disposés vers l'usage d'alcool et d'autres drogues que les citoyens nés dans le pays. Les résultats supplémentaires suggèrent un processus d'assimilation par lequel l'exposition des immigrants de longue date à la vie de la société américaine conduit aux modèles d'usage d'alcool et de drogues illicities, qui se rapprochent de ceux de la population indigène. Cependant, les modèles d'usage de substances observés entre les immigrants ne sont pas conforme aux mécanismes de tension acculturative. Ces résultats fournissent un profil important el représentatif des modèles d'usage des substances d'un des plus grands courants de migration internationale du siècle passé.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Timothy P. Johnson

Timothy P. Johnson is Director of the Survey Research Laboratory and Associate Professor of Public Administration in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He earned a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Kentucky in 1988 and currently serves on the editorial board of Substance Use & Misuse. His research interests include survey measurement error with an emphasis on cross-cultural variability, and the social epidemiology of substance misuse among vulnerable populations.

Jonathan B. VanGeest

Jonathan B. VanGeest is a senior scientist in Medicine and Public Health at the American Medical Association (AMA). In 1998, he earned a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also served as a project coordinator at the University's Survey Research Laboratory. Since joining the AMA, he has been actively involved in research on patient/physician outcomes associated with structural changes in health care. In addition, he also has research interests in the epidemiology of substance misuse and in social and health issues related to homelessness.

Young Ik Cho

Young Ik Cho is a senior research specialist at the Survey Research Laboratory at University of Illinois at Chicago, from which he earned his Ph.D. in Sociology in 1999. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on testing alternative theories on the efforts of adult roles on alcohol consumption among women in the United States. He has been involved in the evaluation of various research programs, including a smoking cessation program offered in public clinics to low-income women in Chicago area. He has been also engaged in the assessment of drug and alcohol treatment needs among various special sub-populations in Illinois. His current research interests include the cross-cultural study on health, and substance use among minorities.