Mexican Family Culture & Substance Use Risk & Resilience

描述（由申请人提供）：该提案要求为650多个墨西哥裔家庭和儿童的持续研究提供第二个5年的支持。在最初的5年里，研究人员招募了两组家庭和孩子，从5年级一直跟踪到7年级或8年级。在接下来的五年里，我们将继续跟踪这些家庭和儿童，因为他们在青少年时期，这是参与合法和非法药物的高风险时期。该研究将解决与酒精、烟草和其他药物（ATOD）使用的开始和升级有关的四个重要问题。首先，调查将检查在美国一个至关重要的种族群体中，墨西哥裔儿童使用ATOD的风险和恢复能力。居住在加州的墨西哥裔美国人将很快成为该州人口最多的族群，这与拉美裔美国人的全国趋势一致。其次，调查将检查导致从童年晚期到青春期ATOD使用的开始和升级的发展途径。发展性方法通常被认为是告知创建有效干预方案的最佳策略，这些方案可以防止早期开始使用ATOD，因为它最有可能产生严重的长期后果。第三，调查将检查家庭对ATOD使用的开始和升级的影响，这也被认为是早期预防的关键。最后，调查将采用最先进的研究方法来研究家庭对ATOD使用发展的影响。假设将从家庭压力模型中得出，该模型提出文化适应过程、少数民族经历、经济困难、邻里和学校风险将影响父母-父母、亲子、兄弟姐妹和同伴关系。预期这些关系反过来会影响到ATOD使用的开始和升级以及相关的调整问题，例如危险性行为，这些问题会增加感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病和其他性传播疾病的长期风险。家庭压力模型还提出，一套文化资源（如尊重、家庭主义）、个人资源（如种族认同、自我控制）和社会资源（如有效解决家庭问题）将促进对假设风险因素的复原力。这些假设的主要考验将在未来5年到来，届时孩子们将进入青春期，使用ATOD的风险将急剧增加。下一阶段研究的一个重要目标是评估风险因素、保护机制和ATOD的使用如何在青少年时期以动态的方式相互关联。这项研究的结果有望为一个重要的、未被充分研究的人群提供更有效和文化敏感的早期预防项目的发展信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests a second 5 years of support for a continuing study of over 650 families and children of Mexican origin. During the first 5 years of support, two cohorts of families and children were recruited and followed from 5th through 7th or 8th grades. During the next 5 years, we will continue to follow these families and children as they navigate the adolescent years, a time of high risk for involvement with licit and illicit substances. The research will address four important issues related to the initiation and escalation of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use. First, the investigation will examine risk for and resilience to ATOD use in a critically important ethnic group in the United States, children of Mexican origin. Mexican Americans living in California will soon become the most populous ethnic group in the state, consistent with national trends for Latinos. Second, the investigation will examine developmental pathways leading to the initiation and escalation of ATOD use from late childhood through adolescence. A developmental approach is generally considered the best strategy for informing the creation of effective intervention programs that can prevent the early initiation of ATOD use, when it is most likely to have severe long-term consequences. Third, the investigation will examine family influences on the initiation and escalation of ATOD use, also considered crucial for early prevention. Finally, the investigation will employ state-of-the-art research methods for studying family influences on the development of ATOD use. Hypotheses will be derived from the family stress model, which proposes that acculturation processes, minority experiences, economic hardship, and neighborhood and school risks will affect parent-parent, parent-child, and sibling and peer relationships. These relationships, in turn, are expected to influence the initiation and escalation of ATOD use and related adjustment problems such as risky sexual behaviors, which increase long-term risk for HIV/AIDs and other STDs. The family stress model also proposes that a set of cultural (e.g., respect, familism), personal (e.g., ethnic identity, self-control), and social (e.g., effective family problem solving) resources will promote resilience to the hypothesized risk factors. The major test of these hypotheses will come during the next 5 years when the children enter adolescence and risk for ATOD use increases dramatically. An important goal of this next phase of the research will be to evaluate how risk factors, protective mechanisms, and ATOD use interrelate in a dynamic manner across the adolescent years. Results of the study are expected to inform the development of more effective and culturally sensitive early prevention programs for an important and understudied population. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research aims to understand (a) the developmental pathways that increase risk for drug use and other adjustment problems in Mexican origin youth living in California and (b) the social, cultural, and personal characteristics that promote resilience to such risks. Knowledge acquired from the project will improve intervention programs intended to promote resilience and prevent the initiation and escalation of drug use in this population.