Stress and Multiple Substance Use Behaviors Among Hispanic Adolescents

Hispanic adolescents reported a higher annual prevalence of use of nearly all major drugs compared to non-Hispanic White and African American adolescents. Cultural or minority stressors, such as those related to the acculturation process, discrimination, immigration, poverty, and community violence, have been implicated in these outcomes. Unfortunately, few studies have examined how these stressors may have a differential or additive effect when considered simultaneously. The current study examined the relation between stress and multiple substance use behaviors in a sample of Hispanic adolescents (n = 1036), age 11-19 years old. Latent class analysis identified subgroups of Hispanic adolescents based on combinations of substance use behaviors. General linear models were used to examine mean differences by class among the eight domains of stress. Fit statistics revealed a six-class structure: no substance use risk, predominately alcohol use, low polysubstance use, high polysubstance use, illicit drug use, and predominately marijuana use. Differences in stress across the six classes were identified for four of the eight domains: family economic, acculturation gap, community and gang, and family and drug stress. The effect sizes revealed the largest mean differences in stress between the no substance use group and the two polysubstance use groups and between the no risk group and alcohol use group. The findings from this study support the use of interventions that target stress to affect multiple substance use behaviors in Hispanic adolescents.