Searching For Universals: Preliminary Evidence For The Validity Of Substance Abuse Subtypes In A Sample Of Mexican American Youths

Abstract

Recent studies of substance abuse typologies indicate that multivariate models originally developed for identifying subtypes of alcoholics are valid among users of other substances, including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. Little is known regarding the generalizability of these subtypes across culturally different subgroups. If substance abuse typologies are universal, then controlling for subtype may prove to be an effective research strategy in studies attempting to distinguish the separate and specific contribution of culturally related factors to risk for substance use and to treatment response. In this article, we present data that replicate the Type A–Type B distinction, developed by Babor et al., in a sample of Hispanic youths with substance involved problems.