Intrapersonal psychological empowerment profiles on ethnic identity, social support, and lifetime drug use among Hispanic adolescent girls

Abstract

The abbreviated Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth (SPCS-Y) factor structure, used to measure intrapersonal psychological empowerment, was tested among a sample of Hispanic adolescent girls (N = 490). Confirmatory factor analysis and latent class analyses were conducted, and five distinct cluster groups emerged. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to examine conceptually related variables and support the two-factor structure and validity of the scale. Participants with higher levels of intrapersonal psychological empowerment also had high social support, ethnic identity, and lower levels of alcohol and drug use. Findings support the use of the scale on Hispanic adolescent girls and contribute to alcohol and drug use prevention research.

Keywords:

• Drugs
• alcohol
• adolescent girls
• Hispanic
• empowerment

Acknowledgements

Points of view, opinions, and conclusions in this paper do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Government.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Drug Free Communities Grant (DFC) Initiative [Grant #SP022-19-01], funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The first author and third author were supported as pre-doctoral fellows in the Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research program with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse T 32 Training Grant [5T32 DA07233].