Traditional gender roles and substance-use behaviors, attitudes, exposure, and resistance among early adolescents in large cities of Mexico

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the associations between traditional gender roles (TGRs) and substance use among early adolescents in Mexico’s largest cities. The sample of seventh grade students (n = 4,932) attended 26 public schools in Mexico City, Guadalajara, or Monterrey in 2014. Outcomes included recent alcohol, binge drinking, cigarette and marijuana use, and lifetime poly-substance use; substance-use intentions, norms, attitudes, and expectancies; and substance-use exposure (peer use, offers) and resistance (refusal confidence, refusal skills, and decision-making skills). A TGR scale assessed endorsement of a polarized gender division of family labor and power. As hypothesized, among males, TGRs were consistently associated with poorer outcomes, and this association was usually stronger for males than for females. In contrast, among females there was no evidence that TGRs were associated with desirable outcomes. Contrary to expectations, TGRs predicted poorer outcomes for both females and males, and to equivalent degrees, for binge drinking, cigarette use, positive substance-use expectancies, and friends’ approval of substance use, and they predicted poorer outcomes for females but not for males on parental disapproval of substance use and drug-resistance skills. Interpretations highlight the persisting aspects of TGRs in the family and conflicting messages for females as Mexico undergoes changes in its gender order.

KEYWORDS:

• Substance use
• traditional gender roles
• Mexican adolescents

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The submitted material has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part. The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. All authors have been personally and substantially involved in the work leading to the paper, and will hold themselves jointly and individually responsible for its content. Relevant ethical safeguards have been met in relation to the confidentiality and consent of the patients involved in the research. Where possible and appropriate, the subjects of the research were consulted in the design and execution of the research.

Funding

Data collection for this study was funded through an international research grant from the College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University. Data analysis and manuscript development were supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Grant R01 DA038657, F. Marsiglia, P.I.).

Additional information

Funding

Data collection for this study was funded through an international research grant from the College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University. Data analysis and manuscript development were supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Grant R01 DA038657, F. Marsiglia, P.I.).