Peer-group mediation in the relationship between family and juvenile antisocial behavior / Mediación del grupo de amigos en la relación entre familia y comportamiento antisocial juvenil

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the variables related to family functioning (parental monitoring, family support, and family conflict) on juvenile antisocial behavior either directly or indirectly through the choice of deviant friends. Thus, the sample consisted of 764 adolescents from the Autonomous Community of Galicia (Spain), from juvenile offender centres (mean age = 17.12, 87.4% males) and students from local schools (mean age = 16.06, 45.5% males). The scales of Valoración del Riesgo en Adolescentes Infractores [Juvenile Offenders Risk Assessment] on parental monitoring, family conflict, family support, antisocial peer group, and antisocial behavior, were applied. The results of structural equation modelling showed a better fit of the mediation model. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the prevention, risk assessment, and management of juvenile offenders (AU)

El objetivo de este estudio ha sido medir los efectos de las variables relativas al funcionamiento familiar (supervisión, apoyo y conflicto familiares) en el comportamiento antisocial juvenil, ya sea directamente o indirectamente a través de la elección de amigos desviados. La muestra constaba de 764 adolescentes de la Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia, de centros de menores en conflicto (media de edad de 17.12 años, el 87.4% varones) y de alumnos de centros escolares (media de edad de 16.06, el 45.5% varones). Se les aplicó las escalas de Valoración del Riesgo en Adolescentes Infractores (VRAI) que miden supervisión parental, conflicto familiar, apoyo familiar, grupo de amigos antisociales y comportamiento antisocial. La comparación de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales muestran un mejor ajuste para el modelo de mediación. Se comentan los resultados en cuanto a sus implicaciones para la prevención, evaluación y gestión del riesgo en jóvenes infractores (AU)

A cross-national study of preadolescent substance use: exploring differences between youth in Spain and Arizona.

This study aims to comparatively examine drug use in Arizona and Spain, in order to know if similarities and differences in drug use patterns justify the administration in Spain of U.S. prevention intervention programs. Data were obtained from independent samples of seventh-grade students recruited from urban public schools and surveyed in 1998: 4,035 ethnically diverse Arizona students (Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites), and 2,243 Spanish-White students. Comparisons using Odds ratios and Chi-square tests allowed assessment of differences in drug use rates between preadolescents in Arizona and Spain taking into account gender. Furthermore, ethnicity differences in preadolescent drug use and in psychosocial risk factors were explored using multivariate analysis (ANOVA and logistic regression). Our results showed similar trends in drug use between Arizona and Spain students, with gateway drugs already in use by early adolescents, and with higher rates of drug use among males than among females. However, cross-national differences in marijuana/cannabis use were noteworthy: Arizona preadolescents were over 25 times more likely to report marijuana/cannabis use than preadolescents from Spain. Moreover, when ethnic differences were considered, Latinos in Arizona reported higher marijuana/cannabis use compared with non-Latino students. Drug use patterns among Latino preadolescents, as well as the relevance of some risk factors among the diverse groups, were strongly influenced by their level of acculturation. Study limitations and the implications of our findings for early drug use prevention and future research are discussed.

Immigrant advantage? Substance use among Latin American immigrant and native-born youth in Spain.

This article reports the results of a descriptive study conducted with middle school and high school age youth residing in northwestern Spain. The main outcome of the study is to advance knowledge about the drug use attitudes and behaviors of immigrants versus native youth in a social context where Latin American immigrants share a common language and a set of core cultural norms with the host society. The research was conducted by a bi-national Spain-US research team as a preliminary study leading to the development of joint culturally appropriate prevention interventions for youth in the northern region of Galicia, Spain. Surveys were administered in Spring 2005 to 817 students in 7th to 10th grades in 10 urban, secondary schools with high immigrant enrollment. The sample included Spanish natives (two-thirds) and Latin American immigrants (one-third), mainly from Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela. Multiple regression analyses predicted substance use intentions, and a composite variable measuring lifetime and last 30-day frequency and amount of alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use. Controlling for the fact that the immigrant students were generally older and performing less well academically than natives, and for other predictors, Latin American immigrant youth were less at risk than native youth on their intentions to use substances and on their reported actual substance use. In a mediational analysis, most of the key explanatory variables in youth substance use etiology failed to account for the immigrant versus native differences, including a range of risk and protective factors for substance use, substance use norms, strength of ethnic identity, and degree of social integration within native-born social networks. Differential access to drugs mediated the immigrant-native gap in substance use intentions but did not mediate differences in actual substance use.