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Abstract
Background: Marijuana use rates remain higher among Hispanic youth compared to youth from other ethnic groups. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine if sex, age, authoritarian parenting, perceived school experiences, lifetime depression, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of marijuana use predicted recent marijuana use and past year marijuana use among Hispanic youth. Methods: The participants of this study were a nationwide sample of Hispanic youth (n = 3,457) in the United States. A secondary data analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was performed. Unadjusted odds ratios were computed via univariate logistic regression analyses and all statistically significant variables were retained and included in the final multiple logistic regression analyses. Recent marijuana use was operationally defined as use within the past 30 days, and marijuana use in the past year was defined as use within the past year. Results: Results indicated that 7.5% of Hispanic youth used within the past month and 14.5% of Hispanic youth used within the past year. Results revealed that significant predictors for recent use were age, authoritarian parenting, perceived school experiences, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of youth marijuana use. Predictors for past year were age, perceived school experiences, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of youth marijuana use. Conclusions/Importance: Findings from this study can be used to address the public health problem of marijuana use among Hispanic youth that is ultimately contributing to health disparities among this ethnic group nationwide. Recommendations for future studies are included.
THE AUTHORS
Keith A. King, PhD, MCHES, is a Professor and Program Director in the Department of Health Promotion and Education in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati. His research and teaching emphases include adolescent health promotion and violence, suicide, and substance abuse prevention. He regularly collaborates with local, regional, and national organizations aimed toward positive youth development. Dr. Keith King has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has presented over 50 professional presentations at conferences focusing on adolescent health promotion.
Rebecca A. Vidourek, PhD, CHES, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Education in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Vidourek received a PhD in Health Education from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Vidourek's teaching and research emphases include child and adolescent health, adolescent substance abuse, violence prevention, risky behaviors, and positive youth development. Dr. Vidourek has assisted numerous schools, communities, coalitions, and agencies in establishing child and adolescent health programming and continues to advocate for initiatives that will improve the health and well-being of youth. She routinely collaborates with a variety of health and local community coalitions to promote child and adolescent health. She remains committed to helping schools, parents, and communities in building protective factors and reducing risky behaviors among youth.
Ashley L. Merianos, PhD, CHES, is an Assistant Professor in the Health Promotion and Education program at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Merianos received her PhD in Health Education with a cognate in child and adolescent health and psychology. Her research emphases include child and adolescent health, substance abuse prevention, mental health promotion, school health education, and epidemiology. She is interested in strengthening family, school, and community partnerships as a means to increase youth engagement in healthy behaviors. Dr. Ashley Merianos has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles focusing on child and adolescent health promotion and has presented extensively at national conferences on reducing risky behaviors among youth.
Lauren A. Bartsch, MS, CHES, is a second year doctoral student in the Department of Health Promotion and Education in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include adolescent health, substance abuse prevention, and eliminating health disparities. As a student, she remains committed to her position as a graduate assistant, teaching and researching with mentors. Lauren hopes to gain a position as a professor to help communities and schools work together to create healthy environments that foster health behaviors in adolescents. She currently has published two peer-reviewed articles and has five under review focusing on substance use in youth and health promotion.
GLOSSARY
Authoritarian Parenting: Authoritarian parenting is characterized by parents who are demanding but are not responsive. More specifically, parents with this style have high levels of control and strict rules, and are not warm or nurturing.
Legal Involvement: Youth are defined as being legal involved if they had ever been arrested or booked for breaking the law (not counting minor traffic violations), if youth were on probation at any time during the past 12 months of taking the survey, and/or if youth were on parole, supervised release, or other conditional release from prison at any time during the past 12 months of taking the survey. Youth who responded “yes” to any of the three criteria above were defined as having legal involvement.
Past Year Marijuana Use: Past year marijuana use is defined as having used marijuana within the past year of completing the survey.
Perceived School Experiences: Perceived school experiences were based on youth's perceptions on school. School experiences included how they felt about going to school, how often they felt the school work they were assigned was meaningful and important, how important they felt the things they learned in school will be to them later in life, how interesting they felt most of their courses at school have been, how often their teachers gave them positive appraisal, and what type of grades they received.
Perceived Social Norms of Marijuana Use: This concept is based on youth's perceptions about the prevalence of marijuana use behaviors among their peers.
Recent Marijuana Use: Recent marijuana use is defined as having used marijuana within the past 30 days of completing the survey.
Risk Factors: These are factors that are associated with increased risk of marijuana use. Youth who have risk factors in several domains (e.g., peers, school, and community) may increase their likelihood for using marijuana. Risk factors include, but are not limited to, associating with peers who engage in risky behaviors, having poor social skills, having parents who use an authoritarian parenting style, having negative perceived school experiences (e.g., not making good grades), and being legally involved with the law.