Media Influences on Mexican-Heritage Youth Alcohol Use: Moderating Role of Language Preference and Ethnic Identification

Abstract

Using cross-sectional data (N = 1,081), this study examined the relationship between Mexican-heritage adolescents' media exposure and alcohol use. Perceived peer norms and positive expectancies were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between media exposure and alcohol use behaviors, and media language preference and ethnic identification were hypothesized to moderate the relationship. The results supported the predictions that the relationship between media exposure and alcohol use was mediated by peer norms and positive expectancies and that the relationship was partially moderated by language preference. However, contrary to expectations, the results did not support the hypothesis that ethnic identification moderated the relationship between media use and alcohol use. Practical implications, research limitations, and future directions are discussed.

KEYTERMS:

• alcohol use
• ethnic identity
• Mexican-heritage youth
• Spanish-language media

This research was supported by Grant Number (RO1 DA005629) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to The Pennsylvania State University (Michael Hecht, Principal Investigator). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Notes

Note. Media use, language preference, and ethnic identification were centered to avoid multicollinearity. Gender (male = 0; female = 1) and prior alcohol use (never-use = 0; ever-use = 1) are dummy-coded variables.

*p < .05; **p < .01.

Note. Path coefficients are unstandardized estimates, and the numbers in the parentheses are their standard errors. Dashes in the top panel indicate non-significant pathways.

**p < .01; ***p < .001.