Risk Factors and Gender Differences in Early Alcohol Initiation Among Mexican Adolescents

Background and Purpose: Alcohol use and abuse among adolescents have been attributed in part to maltreatment experiences in the home (Moran, Vuchinich, & Hall, 2004) and to the coexistence of impaired social functioning (Wu et al., 2007; Clark & Neighbors, 1996). Gender differences have also been found with females engaging in alcohol use experiencing more depressive symptoms than males (Waller et al., 2006). These risk factors have also been associated with age of alcohol initiation (Hamburger, Leeb & Swahn, 2008) with early first use of alcohol increasing the risk of subsequent maladaptive behaviors (Young et al., 2006). However, few studies have examined these risk factors with Mexican adolescents. We were interested in examining Mexican adolescents due to the cultural influence of familism and traditional gender roles. As such, we were interested in examining gender differences in age of alcohol initiation, depression, self-esteem, family violence, and the parent-child relationship. We were also interested in examining whether gender, family violence, depression, self-esteem, and the parent-child relationship were associated with age of alcohol initiation.

Methods: Data are drawn from the Guanajuato Youth and Family Health study of 525 youth in Guanajuato, Mexico. Youth were recruited from eight VIBA centers (i.e., alternative high schools) enrolled during the 2nd, 4th, and 6th semester during February 2007. Self-administered questionnaires measured health risk behaviors and co-variates, and demographic variables including: age of initiation of alcohol use, the CES-D depression scale, Rosenberg short self-esteem scale, a global measure of relationship with parents, a 6 item SES scale, gender and age. Data were analyzed with t-tests, chi-square, and a two step logistic regression.

Results: Results show gender differences among all variables of interest with females being older (M=14.58 v. M=13.82) at age of alcohol initiation (t(525) = 4.04, p<.001), with higher levels of depression (t(474) = 6.83, p<.001), lower levels of self-esteem (t(516) = -5.57, p<.001), a stronger parent-child relationship (t(515) = 3.89, p<.001), and experiencing more family violence (Χ2(3) = 16.57, p<.01). Results also show that youth were more likely to initiate alcohol use early if they were male (β = -.622, p < .01), from lower SES families (β = .524, p < .01), and had higher depression scores (β = -.028, p < .01) or poorer relationships with their parents (β = .337, p < .05). Controlling for these factors, family violence and self-esteem were not predictors of early alcohol initiation.

Conclusions and Implications: Although Mexican females reported a high incidence of family violence, that experience was not significantly associated with early alcohol initiation, but may be explained by cultural norms where harsher discipline for females is expected due to family obligations and a strong disapproval of alcohol consumption for females. Findings further suggest that interventions targeted at Mexican adolescents need to focus on males, depressive symptoms, and in developing a strong family tie. Targeting these risk factors has the potential to ameliorate early first use of alcohol and prevent further maladaptive behaviors. In addition, more research is needed to obtaining a better understanding of the cultural context with youth in the U.S. and other countries.