MEXICAN/AMERICAN DROPOUTS AND DRUG USE

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This study will be a longitudinal investigation of the relationship between dropping out and drug use among Mexican-American youth. It is a follow-up to a study of Mexican-American dropouts that has obtained baseline data on 1653 subjects. This proposal will (1) continue collection of baseline data for another five years and (2) obtain follow-up data on current baseline subjects and an additional 1450 subjects whose baseline data will be obtained during the first two years of this proposed project. Subjects will be followed into the earliest stages of young adulthood to determine how drug use interacts with psychological, social, and cultural characteristics to influence the short-term outcome of dropouts and academically at-risk youth. Outcomes include subsequent substance use, cultural identification, self-esteem and emotional distress, HIV risk behaviors, school retention, a return to school and GED, and work adjustment comparisons will be made between Mexican-American and Anglo dropouts, academically at-risk youth, and controls. This is the first stage in what is planned to become a long-term longitudinal study of dropouts.