Posted on September 1, 2010

A new study has found that Hispanic adolescents are more likely to smoke, drink, or use marijuana than those of other races and ethnicities, and Asian students are at the lowest risk of substance abuse.

The study, which examined 5,500 seventh and eighth graders at 16 middle schools in California, also found that some of the factors that influenced the risk of substance abuse varied by race and ethnicity. For example, personal factors contributed to the risk of substance abuse among Hispanic adolescents, such as their ability to say no and their perception of the negative consequences of drinking, smoking, and drug use.

Asian teens’ lower risk of substance abuse was tied to the same personal factors, in addition to their respect for the parents and their family members’ and peers’
lower rates of substance abuse.

Regina A. Shih, Ph.D., and her colleagues at the RAND Corporation said that the study highlights issues that could be used in substance abuse prevention programs in middle schools. Dr. Shih said that most interventions are not culturally tailored, so focusing on specific risk factors that are present in certain races and ethnicities could help better prevent substance abuse. For example, focusing on how to resist peer pressure could be helpful for Hispanic teens, while promoting positive communication among family members could help maintain lower substance abuse rates for Asian teens.

Dr. Shih noted that they aren’t suggesting that these targeted efforts be offered to only students of those ethnicities, but that they could be broadly applied to help reach a higher number of students.

In the study, 22 percent of students said they had tried alcohol, 10 percent said they had smoked cigarettes, and 7 percent said they had used marijuana. Among Hispanics, 26 percent had tried alcohol, compared to 21 percent of black students, 18 percent of white students, and about 10 percent of Asian students.

Hispanic students had the highest probability of substance abuse and Asian students had the lowest probability, even after accounting for factors such as gender and family backgrounds.

Shih and her team hope to use this sample to continue to examine adolescents over time to see which factors initiate or worsen substance abuse.

Source: Science Daily, Hispanic Kids Show Greater Risk of Substance Use, Study Suggests, September 1, 2010