The Effects of Acculturation Gaps and Parental Monitoring on the Substance Use Behaviors of Mexican Heritage Youth in the Southwest US

Background and Purpose:  Latino adolescents report higher use rates of alcohol and other drugs relative to other adolescent groups, with eighth grade Latinos reporting higher rates of alcohol and illicit drug use (with the exception of amphetamines) than their White non-Hispanic counterparts (Johnston et al., 2008).  Given the large proportion of Latinos who are recent immigrants, it is important to consider the moderating effects of acculturation in understanding Latino adolescent alcohol and drug use.  Analyses from  the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health study showed that first-generation Mexican and other Latino immigrant adolescents reported lower alcohol use rates (6.3%) as compared to second generation (11.6%) or third (7.5%) generation Latino youth (Hussey et al., 2007).  In turn, a particular, understudied aspect of acculturation that may increase the risks for problem behaviors among Latino adolescents is the parent-youth “acculturation gap” (Birman, 2006; Szapocznik & Kurtines, 1993).  This gap occurs when Latino adolescents exhibit higher levels of acculturation relative to their parents, often leading to parent-child problems in communications and value orientations, and related stressors and family disruptions.  We report the results of a study of Mexican and Mexican American parent-adolescent dyads in which we assess the effects this parent-child acculturation gap as a predictor of the child's substance use behaviors.  This effect is considered within the context of acculturation on parenting practices, as indicated by the adolescents' perceptions of the extent to which their parents monitor their behaviors.

Methods: Levels of linguistic acculturation were assessed in a sample of 206 Mexican-heritage 7th grade adolescents who attended schools with high proportions of Mexican-heritage youths in Arizona.  Adolescent’s perceptions of parental monitoring and their lifetime use of various substances were also assessed.  One of their parents (mostly mothers) also reported on their own level of acculturation.  Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the main effect of parent acculturation, the main effect of the acculturation gap, as indicated by the effect of youth acculturation over and above that of parent acculturation, the main effect of parental monitoring, and the interaction of the acculturation gap (regression residual of youth acculturation with parent acculturation partialled out) with parental monitoring.

Results: Higher levels of parental acculturation predicted youths' greater marijuana use rates, although the parent-youth acculturation gap was not predictive of youth substance use. Moreover, parental monitoring was negatively correlated with cigarette, marijuana, and inhalant use. There was a significant acculturation gap by parental monitoring interaction for marijuana use.  When there was a greater acculturation gap, youths’ perceptions of their parent’s involvement in the youths’ lives were not predictive of the youths’ drug use, in contrast to the negative correlation between parental monitoring and marijuana use for families with the smallest acculturation gaps. 

Implications:  The present findings support the idea that the acculturation gap increases the risk for problem behaviors in Mexican American adolescents by undermining family processes.  School based interventions targeting family processes to reduce substance use in Mexican American adolescents need to take into account these acculturation gap effects.