Parental Monitoring and Changes in Substance Use Among Latino/a and Non-Latino/a Preadolescents in the Southwest

Abstract

Prior research shows parental monitoring is associated with less substance use, but these studies have some limitations. Many examine older adolescents from White, Euro-American heritage, and cross-sectional studies are unable to test if parental monitoring decreases substance use over time. We address these limitations with longitudinal data of 2,034 primarily Latino preadolescents in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in 2004–2005. We use multilevel regression with multiple imputation of missing data. We find parental monitoring has beneficial, longitudinal effects on youth's substance use and related intentions, norms, and attitudes. Effects are invariant to gender or Latino ethnicity, except in the case of marijuana.

RESUME

Contrôle parental et changements dans l’utilisation de drogues parmi la population préadolescente Latino et non-Latino dans le Sud-ouest

Les recherches qui ont été faites précédemment indiquent qu’il y a une corrélation entre contrôle parental et une diminution de l’usage de substances, mais ces études comportent des limitations. En effet, un grand nombre d’entre elles n’analysent que des adolescents proches de l’âge adulte, de race blanche ou d’origine européenne, et les études multi-sectionnelles ne permettent pas de vérifier s’il y a une influence parentale sur la diminution de prise de substances à long terme. Nous analysons ces restrictions à l’aide de données longitudinales portant sur 2.034 pré-adolescents in majorité d’origine hispanique, qui habitent à Phoenix, en Arizona, aux Etats-Unis. Nous utilisons une méthode de régression sur plusieurs niveaux, avec de multiples imputations de données manquantes. Nous en concluons que le contrôle parental a des effets bénéfiques à long terme pour les jeunes quant à l’usage de substances ainsi que les intentions, normes, et attitudes qui s’y rapportent. Les effets sont les mêmes pour les adolescents des deux sexes, qu’ils soient hispaniques or non, sauf dans le cas de la marijuana.

RESUMEN

Supervision paternal y cambios en el uso de substancias entre adolescentes Latinos y No-Latinos en el Suroeste

Previos estudios han demostraron que la supervisión de los niños por parte de los padres esta asociada con menos uso de substancias; sin embargo, estos estudios tienen limitaciones. Varios usaron muestras de adolescentes mayores, de herencia Europeo-Americana y generalmente no son longitudinales. Estas limitaciones no permiten demostrar si la supervisión de los padres reduce el futuro uso de substancias. Este estudio usa datos longitudinales de una muestra de 2,034 preadolescentes, principalmente Latinos, residentes en Phoenix, Arizona, Estados Unidos de America durante los años 2004–2005. Usamos regresiones multinivel con imputaciones múltiples de los datos perdidos. Los resultados sugieren que la supervisión de parte de los padres tiene beneficios a largo plazo en el uso de substancias de parte de los jóvenes, en las intenciones de usar, y en las normas y actitudes hacia el uso de substancias. No se encontró ninguna variación de los efectos cuando se tiene en cuenta el género o la etnicidad Latina de los jóvenes, excepto por el caso del uso de marihuana.

Keywords: :

• expectancies
• exosystem
• macrosystem
• mesosystem
• microsystem
• parental monitoring
• Latino/Latina
• preadolescence

THE AUTHORS

Scott T. Yabiku, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University and an affiliate of the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center and the Center for Population Dynamics. His research interests include family demography, population and the environment, and youth substance use.

Flavio F. Marsiglia, Ph.D., is the Distinguished Foundation Professor of Cultural Diversity and Health at the ASU School of Social Work and is the Director of the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center (SIRC). SIRC is an exploratory center of excellence funded by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the NIH. He is actively involved in local, national, and international efforts to eradicate health disparities and to develop—in partnership with communities-–effective interventions based on cultural resiliencies. He has authored 60 journal articles, book chapters, and the book: Diversity, Oppression and Change: Culturally Grounded Social Work.

Stephen Kulis, Ph.D., is Cowden Distinguished Professor of Sociology in the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University (ASU) and the Director of Research at the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center at ASU. His research focuses on cultural processes in health disparities, such as the role of gender and ethnic identity in youth drug use and prevention interventions; cultural adaptation of prevention programs for ethnic minority youth; on contextual neighborhood and school level influences on individual level risk and protective behaviors; on gender and racial inequities in professional careers, and the organizational sources of ethnic and gender discrimination.

Monica B. Parsai, Ph.D., is Assistant Director of Family Intervention Studies at the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center at Arizona State University. Her main research focus is the protective and risk factors of acculturation among Latino populations living in the United States, and on stress and coping among recent Mexican immigrant women in the Southwest.

David Becerra, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Colorado State University. His research focuses on issues affecting Latino youth including substance use, academic achievement, and poverty.

Melissa Del-Colle, M.S.W., received her bachelor's and master's of social work degrees from Arizona State University. She is currently licensed as a master social worker in the state of Arizona. She has worked with children, seriously mentally ill adults, and the elderly over the course of her career. Her research interests include hidden disabilities, health and wellness, and criminal justice.

Notes

1 The journal's style utilizes the category substance abuse as a diagnostic category. Substances are used or misused; living organisms are and can be abused. Editor's note.

2 The reader is asked to consider that the concepts and processes of “risk” ,”protective” and “vulnerability” factors are , often noted in the literature, without adequately helping one understand their dimensions (linear, non-linear), their “demands”, the critical necessary conditions (endogenous as well as exogenous ones; micro to macro levels) which are necessary for either of them to operate (begin, continue, become anchored and integrate, change as de facto realities change, cease, etc.) or not to, and whether their underpinnings are theory-driven, empirically-based, individual and/or systemic stake holder- bound, historically -tradition driven, based upon “principles of faith” or what. This is necessary to clarify if the term is not to remain as yet another shibboleth in a field of many stereotypes. Editor's note