Allen Michele L, Elliott Marc N, Fuligni Andrew J, Morales Leo S, Hambarsoomian Katrin, Schuster Mark A
Department of Family Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota 55414, USA.
J Adolesc Health. 2008 Oct;43(4):372-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.02.016. Epub 2008 Jun 5.
Greater acculturation is associated with higher rates of substance use among Latino adolescents, but the reasons are poorly understood. One potential explanation is that social networks change with acculturation, leading to decreased protection and increased risk. Our objective was to identify Spanish language-sensitive individual and social network attributes associated with substance use in Latino adolescents.
Latino eighth-grade students in a Los Angeles public middle school completed a computerized, self-administered survey about tobacco, alcohol, drug use, and parental monitoring; and description of 30 social network members. Regression analyses were used to estimate the independent associations of network-level Spanish language use and other factors with a substance use behavior scale. Mediation analysis identified Spanish language-sensitive attributes.
Network-level Spanish language use was associated with a substance use scale in bivariate but not multivariate models. Protective Spanish language-sensitive attributes included greater numbers of extended family members in the network, less substance use among network members, and greater perceived parental monitoring. Risky Spanish language-insensitive attributes include more high school aged network members.
These results suggest that parental monitoring and some characteristics of social networks account for the relationship between Spanish language use and substance use among Latino adolescents. Clinic- or community-based interventions that enhance protective characteristics of social networks in Latino adolescents may be effective.
在拉丁裔青少年中，更高程度的文化适应与更高的物质使用发生率相关，但其中的原因却知之甚少。一种可能的解释是，社交网络会随着文化适应而改变，从而导致保护作用减弱、风险增加。我们的目标是确定与拉丁裔青少年物质使用相关的、对西班牙语敏感的个体及社交网络属性。
洛杉矶一所公立中学的八年级拉丁裔学生完成了一项关于烟草、酒精、药物使用及父母监督的计算机化自填式调查；并对30名社交网络成员进行了描述。回归分析用于估计网络层面西班牙语使用及其他因素与物质使用行为量表之间的独立关联。中介分析确定了对西班牙语敏感的属性。
在双变量模型而非多变量模型中，网络层面的西班牙语使用与物质使用量表相关。具有保护作用的对西班牙语敏感的属性包括社交网络中大家庭成员数量更多、网络成员中的物质使用较少以及感知到的父母监督更强。具有风险的对西班牙语不敏感的属性包括更多高中年龄的网络成员。
这些结果表明，父母监督和社交网络的一些特征解释了拉丁裔青少年中西班牙语使用与物质使用之间的关系。基于诊所或社区的干预措施，若能增强拉丁裔青少年社交网络的保护特征，可能会有效。
