The Moderating Effects of Acculturation On Gender Roles and Substance Use in Mexican American Adolescents

Background: Gender roles—both positive/desirable and negative/undesirable aspects of femininity and masculinity—have been shown to be predictive of substance use in Mexican American adolescents, but the relationship may differ by acculturation level. Acculturation may change Mexican American youth's adherence to traditional gender roles of machismo and marianismo, which in turn can influence their level of protection and vulnerability for substance use. Purpose: The present study sought to test the moderating effect of acculturation on the relationship between gender roles and substance use in a sample of Mexican heritage adolescents. Methods: Data came from the 7th grade (Spring 2007, Wave 5) randomized controlled trial in Phoenix, AZ of a school based prevention program. The analyses employed data from Mexican heritage students only (691 boys, 775 girls), who comprised 82% of all participants in the trial. To predict last 30 day substance use frequency and amount (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, inhalants), hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted entering multi-item gender role scales measuring positive (assertive) masculinity, negative (aggressive) masculinity, positive (affective) femininity, and negative (submissive) femininity. Two measures of acculturation were tested as moderators, the AHIMSA assimilation scale and a 3-item linguistic acculturation scale of language use (English versus Spanish) with family, friends, and media. Analyses also controlled for participation in the prevention program, age, academic performance, family structure (one or two parents), and socioeconomic status. Results: For both boys and girls, negative masculinity predicted greater use of all four substances, and positive masculinity predicted greater alcohol use. Positive femininity predicted less use of most substances in boys, but only predicted less alcohol use in girls. There were no moderating effects of the AHIMSA on gender role effects, but the analyses yielded several significant linguistic acculturation-by-gender role interactions. For boys, undesirable effects of positive masculinity and negative masculinity, and desirable effects of positive femininity, were strongest for the less linguistically acculturated. For girls, negative masculinity predicted greater marijuana use only among the more linguistically acculturated. Conclusions: The several significant interactions between acculturation and gender roles and the sex difference in these interactions, indicate that acculturation works in combination with gender roles to increase or decrease the risk for substance use in different ways for Mexican heritage boys and girls. The results are consistent with other studies suggesting that acculturation has a stronger undesirable impact on the adoption of risk behaviors by Mexican heritage girls than by their male counterparts. Implications: These findings confirm the importance of considering gender roles in understanding the etiology of substance use in Mexican American adolescents, and how their influence varies by acculturation. Behaviors and attitudes associated with machismo may be identifiable risk factors for substance use particularly among less acculturated Mexican American adolescent boys. Efforts to understand and intervene in gender role socialization may be an important target for preventing substance use problems in more acculturated Mexican American adolescent girls.