Drug Use Among Hispanic Emerging Adults

描述（由申请人提供）：在西班牙裔青少年中，文化因素，如文化适应，感知歧视和文化适应压力是吸毒的危险因素。以往的研究表明，文化适应对吸毒的影响可能是通过家庭功能来介导的;当青少年比父母更快地适应文化时，亲子文化适应差异可能导致家庭沟通和凝聚力的破坏以及家庭冲突的增加，这反过来又会导致青少年的危险行为，如吸毒。虽然有相当多的信息家庭文化适应模式在西班牙裔青少年吸毒中的作用，我们不知道家庭文化适应模式如何影响青少年，因为他们过渡到下一个阶段的生活，新兴的成年。成年初显期是一个临时阶段，年轻人尝试成年人的角色，但可能不会牢固地扎根于其中，其特征是身份探索，居住不稳定，自我关注，主观感觉介于青春期和真正的成年之间，以及机会增加。一般来说，顺利度过这一转变的人会有更成熟的身份感，成功的人际关系，新的生活角色和最低程度的物质使用。然而，成年期出现的高水平独立性和低水平的社会约束也使这一时期成为吸毒和其他问题行为的高风险时期。了解青少年的因素如何影响成年早期的药物使用，可以为青少年提供更好的干预措施。需要更多的研究来确定文化因素如何影响拉美裔人向成年期的过渡，并确定在这一关键过渡期间吸毒升级的风险因素。该延续申请建议再跟踪一个已建立的西班牙裔青少年队列（2008-2009学年的12年级学生）4年，以确定他们在向成年期过渡期间药物使用轨迹的预测因素。本研究的具体目的是：（1）对参与者进行额外的4次年度调查;（2）构建个体生长曲线，描述他们使用烟草、酒精、大麻和其他药物的情况;（3）确定生长曲线参数的预测因素，包括文化因素、同伴因素、高中期间的物质使用、心理因素和人口统计学因素;（4）评估作为这些影响的潜在中介的成年初显变量，包括身份探索，实验/可能性，不稳定性（住宅流动性，角色转换），自我关注，以及处于青春期和成年期之间的主观体验;以及（5）为制定更好的健康教育信息提出建议，以防止在过渡期间在文化适应的西班牙裔人中使用毒品，成年初显期 公共卫生相关性：该应用程序解决了预防和减少年轻人使用药物的公共卫生目标。它还旨在通过确定西班牙裔特有的风险和保护因素来减少健康差距。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Among Hispanic adolescents, cultural factors such as acculturation, perceived discrimination, and acculturative stress are risk factors for drug use. Previous studies suggest that the effects of acculturation on drug use may be mediated by family functioning; when adolescents acculturate more rapidly than their parents, the parent- child acculturation discrepancy can lead to breakdowns in family communication and cohesion and increases in family conflict, which in turn can lead to risky behaviors such as drug use among the adolescents. Although there is considerable information about the role of family acculturation patterns in drug use among Hispanic adolescents, we do not know how family acculturation patterns affect adolescents as they transition into the next stage of life, emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood, a provisional stage in which young adults try out adult roles but may not become firmly entrenched in them, is characterized by identity exploration, residential instability, self-focus, a subjective feeling of being between adolescence and true adulthood, and increased opportunities. In general, individuals who navigate this transition smoothly emerge with a more developed sense of identity, successful interpersonal relationships, new life roles, and minimal levels of substance use. However, the high level of independence and low level of social constraints that occur during emerging adulthood also make this a high-risk period for drug use and other problem behaviors. Understanding how factors in adolescence affect drug use in early adulthood can lead to better intervention efforts for adolescents. More research is needed to determine how cultural factors influence the transition to emerging adulthood among Hispanics and to identify the risk factors for escalation of drug use during this pivotal transition. This continuation application proposes to follow an established cohort of Hispanic adolescents (12th graders in the 2008-2009 school year) for an additional 4 years to identify the predictors of their drug use trajectories during the transition to emerging adulthood. The Specific Aims of the proposed research are the following: (1) Conduct an additional 4 annual surveys of the participants; (2) Construct individual growth curves to describe their use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs; (3) Identify the predictors of the growth curve parameters, including cultural factors, peer factors, substance use during high school, psychological factors, and demographic factors; (4) Evaluate emerging adulthood variables as potential mediators of these influences, including identity exploration, experimentation / possibilities, instability (residential mobility, role transitions), self-focus, and subjective experience of being in-between adolescence and adulthood; and (5) Make recommendations for the development of improved health education messages to prevent drug use among acculturating Hispanics during the transition to emerging adulthood. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application addresses the public health goals of preventing and reducing substance use among young adults. It also aims to reduce health disparities by identifying risk and protective factors that are specific to Hispanics.