Alcohol use among hispanic adolescents: role of linguistic acculturation and gender (2000)

FRANÇAIS :
Cette étude examine les effets d'une perte de racines culturelles linguistiques (langage parlé avec les amis et les parents) et selon le sexe sur la consommation d'alcool chez des adolescents hispaniques de 22 établissements scolaires de New-York. 1295 étudiants hispaniques ont répondu à un questionnaire la première année et 1034 la deuxième. Il ressort de l'étude que les jeunes bilingues, pris notamment dans le stress d'un conflit de cultures au moment de la construction de leur identité, consomment davantage et sont plus enclins à être en état d'ivresse que ceux qui vivent dans un environnement familial ou amical utilisant encore la langue d'origine (espagnol) et permettant une valorisation de leurs origines. Des programmes de prévention spécifiques, comprenant des dimensions culturelles, sont donc encouragés.
ENGLISH :
Hispanic students had higher rates of drinking than White and Black students according to national survey data. Among adolescents residing in inner-city regions of New York City, Hispanic youth engaged in more alcohol use than Black and Asian youth. A distinguishing feature of Hispanics living in the United States is their level of adaptation to American culture. Such an acculturation process involves changes in behavior, attitudes, norms, and values as a result of exposure to a new culture. The present study investigates the role of acculturation and gender in alcohol use among Hispanic adolescents residing in New York City. As in most prior research, the acculturation measure was language use. The linguistic acculturation items covered language spoken with friends and parents. In all cases, a greater proportion of adolescents who spoke both English and Spanish with their friends engaged in drinking than adolescents who spoke only English with their friends. Within gender, these relationships were found for (1) alcohol initiation for boys and girls in both years (2) alcohol consumed for boys at a baseline and for girls at one-year follow-up. Moreover, language spoken with parents was related to alcohol initiation and drunkenness at the one year follow-up. A higher proportion of students who spoke English and Spanish with their parents tried alcohol and had been drunk than students who spoke only Spanish with their parents. This study suggests some ways to improve alcohol prevention programs designed for Hispanic youth to ease the acculturation process. Students in Spanish-speaking homes were least likely to drink. Assuming a greater awareness of Hispanic culture is responsible for this protection, Hispanic adolescents may benefit from an alcohol prevention program emphasizing aspects of their culture. Ethnic pride content may help Hispanic youth within the context of a prevention program. (Extract of the publication)