Cultural Values Associated With Substance Use Among Hispanic Adolescents in Southern California

Abstract

Cultural values can shape people's attitudes toward substance use and influence their risk of experimentation with drugs. This article examines the relationships between cultural values (familism, respeto, and machismo), fatalism (a culturally encouraged personality disposition), and substance use among Hispanic adolescents. In 2005, cross-sectional data were collected from 1,616 Hispanic ninth grade students in Los Angeles. Each cultural value was associated with lifetime substance use; however, these relationships depended on the type of substance and gender. Our findings suggest that it might be useful to incorporate the cultural values and address the personality trait of fatalism in prevention programs for Hispanic adolescents. The study's limitations are noted.

RÉSUMÉ

Les valeurs culturelles associées à l'utilisation de la drogue chez les adolescents hispaniques dans le sud de la Californie.

Les valeurs culturelles peuvent influencer les attitudes des gens face à l'utilisation de la drogue et ces mêmes valeurs peuvent influencer le risque de leur utilisation. Cet article décrit les relations qui peuvent exister entre les valeurs culturelles (famille, respect, machisme), le fatalisme (une disposition de la personnalité culturellement encouragée) et l'utilisation des drogues chez les adolescents hispaniques. En 2005, des données transversales ont été recueillies auprès de 1,616 élèves hispaniques âgés de 15 ans habitant à Los Angeles. Chaque valeur culturelle a été associée à l'utilisation de drogue sur toute une vie, mais ces relations dépendent du type de substance utilisée et du sexe de la personne. Nos résultats ont suggéré qu'il serait utile d'intégrer ces valeurs culturelles et d’évoquer un trait de personnalité du fatalisme dans les programmes de prévention pour les adolescents hispaniques.

RESUMEN

Valores culturales asociados con el uso de sustanciasx entre adolescentes hispanos en el sur de California

Los valores culturales pueden ayudar a dar forma a las actitudes personales hacia el uso de sustancias; y a la vez influyen en el riesgo de las personas hacia la experimentación con drogas. Este artículo exxamina las relaciones entre valores culturales hispanos (tales como el familismo, el respeto, el machismo), el fatalismo (una disposición de la personalidad cultural) y el consumo de sustancias entre adolescentes hispanos. En 2005, se recopilaron en Los Angeles datos de corte transversal en un grupo de 1,616 estudiantes hispanos de 9° grado. Cada valor cultural se asoció con el haber usado sustancias alguna vez en su vida. Sin embargo, estas relaciones dependen del tipo de sustancia y el género de la persona. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que podría ser útil el incorporar valores culturales asi como la dirección de los rasgos de personalidad, tal como el fatalismo, en programas de prevención para adolescentes hispanos.

Keywords :

• cultural values
• familism
• respeto
• fatalism
• machismo
• substance use
• Hispanic
• adolescence
• bicultural competence

THE AUTHORS

Claradina Soto is a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Prevention Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. She has worked in tobacco control for over 10 years and her research focuses on the role of culture and tobacco use among diverse communities with an emphasis on youth.

Jennifer B. Unger, Ph.D., is a professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Her research focuses on psychological, social, and cultural risks and protective factors for substance use among adolescents.

Anamara Ritt-Olson, Ph.D., is a research associate at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Her research interests currently focus on the impact that family has on the well-being of adolescents and on ways to harness that power to engage youth in optimal development. Her interests also include curriculum development, research methods and evaluation of programs designed to improve adolescent health.

David Scott Black is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Prevention Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. His research focuses on the associations between mindfulness, meditation techniques, and related health outcomes such as substance use through biopsychosocial mechanisms including cognition, affect, stress, and coping. He is the founder of Mindfulness Research Guide (MRG), a comprehensive electronic resource that provides information to researchers on the scientific study of mindfulness, and he is the author of MRG's publication outlet Mindfulness Research Monthly.

Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Ph.D., is an associate professor in Preventive Medicine and Sociology at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. She teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students on culture and health, culturally engages in language-specific health promotion and disease prevention interventions, and is also into public health and behavioral research. She is the Director of the Global Health Track in the MPH program and conducts independent research on the role of culture in the elimination of health disparities. Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati speaks multiple languages and has five academic degrees from Europe, Latin America, and the United States. She has a strong record of publications and of extramural funding with an emphasis on Hispanic population health disparities, in particular as related to drug use, tobacco prevention, and cancer control. She is a well-recognized leader in her field and the recipient of multiple prestigious awards, including the 2006 Community Activism Award from the American Legacy Foundation and of a Distinguished Career Award from the American Public Health Association, Latino Caucus. She is a member of the National Hispanic Science Network and of the Tobacco and Health Disparities Research Network.

Daniel W. Soto, MPH, is the project manager for three NIH-funded longitudinal research studies that focus on Latino adolescent drug use, social networks, and acculturation. He recently earned a master's degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. He has worked with Project Towards No Drug Abuse and Project EX in implementing tobacco, drug, and alcohol use prevention and cessation curricula in Southern California high schools.

Notes

2 The reader is referred to Hills's criteria for causation which were developed in order to help assist researchers and clinicians determine if risk factors were causes of a particular disease or outcomes or merely associated. (Hill, A. B. (1965). The environment and disease: associations or causation? Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 58: 295–300.). Editor's note.