The Influence of Acculturation on Substance Use Behaviors among Latina Sexual Minority Women: The Mediating Role of Discrimination

Abstract

Background: A large body of work has demonstrated that sexual minority women have elevated rates of substance use morbidity, as compared with heterosexual women, and that this might be especially true for women of color. Objectives: This study examines the influence of acculturation and discrimination on substance use among Latina sexual minority women. Methods: Data were collected from 2007 to 2008 as part of a larger community-based survey in the greater Chicago area. Scales measured discrimination, acculturation, and substance use. Structural equation modeling validated scales and examined their relationships, which were further described via mediation analysis. Results: Increased acculturation leads to substance use and this relationship is partially mediated by discrimination (Sobel test = 2.10; p < .05). Conclusions/Importance: Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. Funding was provided by several women's and public health organizations.

Keywords :

• Latina
• sexual minority women
• acculturation
• discrimination
• substance use

THE AUTHORS

Dr. Alicia Matthews, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and clinical psychologist with more than 15 years of experience in examining determinants of cancer-related health disparities with a particular focus on African American and LGBT populations. Her recent research focuses on the use of community-based and culturally tailored health promotion interventions to reduce risk factors associated with cancer disparities including smoking cessation treatments and cancer-screening interventions. Currently, she is the PI of an NIH-funded study (R01 DA023935–01A2) to conduct a randomized clinical trial of a culturally tailored and non-tailored smoking cessation intervention for LGBT adult smokers.

Chien-Ching Li, Ph.D., from Taiwan, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Systems Management at Rush University. He received his Ph.D. in Public Health Studies with a concentration of Health Services Research from the School of Public Health, Saint Louis University (2012). His current research interests are in the areas of Health Aging, Health Disparity, Health Economic Evaluation, and Health Services & Outcomes Research.

Dr. Frances Aranda, Ph.D., is a Visiting Senior Research Specialist in the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She received her doctorate in Public Health (Community Health Science) from UIC. Her major research interests include racial/ethnic differences of depression, alcohol and smoking use among sexual minority populations.

Lourdes Torres, Ph.D., is Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at DePaul University. She is the author of Puerto Rican Discourse: A Sociolinguistic Study of A Puerto Rican Suburb and co-editor of Tortilleras: U.S. Latina and Hispanic Lesbian Expression and Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism. She teaches courses and has published articles on Latino/a queer sexuality and language issues of in the United States.

Ms. Maria Vargas, MPH, holds dual bachelorette degrees in Biology and Psychology from the University of Illinois in Chicago. She is a recent graduate of the DePaul University Masters in Public Health program specializing in community public health practice.

Ms. Megan Conrad, MA, completed her Master's degree in psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology. Her research focuses on factors that influence the development and maintenance of alcohol and other substance use disorders, including the temporal stability of emotional response and reactions to acute stress. She is also interested in substance use among under-studied individuals, such as those in the LGBT community.

GLOSSARY

• Acculturation: The process of cultural change that occurs when individuals from different cultural backgrounds come into prolonged, continuous, first-hand contact with each other.

• Distal stress process: An individual's experiences of discrimination and violence.

• Minority stress: A combination of distal and proximal processes that create stress unique to racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities.

• Proximal stress process: Internalized homophobia, perceived stigma, and concealment of one's sexual orientation or transgender identity.

• Sexual minority women (SMW): Women who identify as lesbians or bisexuals, women who partner with women, and women who have sex with women.

• Structural equation modeling: A statistical technique for estimating causal relations using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions.