Acculturation and Tobacco/Illicit Drug Use in Hispanic Youth
This chapter explores the incipient role of acculturation in cigarette smoking, tobacco use, and use of illicit drugs in Hispanic youth in the United States. It first examines the conceptual foundations of acculturation, including early unidimensional models and later bidimensional and multicomponent perspectives of acculturation. It then reviews empirical studies linking acculturation with cigarette/tobacco and, separately, illicit drug use among Hispanic youth. The cumulative body of evidence is reviewed in terms of methodological strengths and weaknesses and how they sharpen our focus on acculturation in development. The chapter also examines three key developmental mechanisms that may account for the underlying relations between acculturation and drug use: (1) cultural stress, (2) family functioning, and (3) change in cognitive functioning related to drug use. The chapter closes with several recommendations that may help clarify the developmental linkages between acculturation and Hispanic youth drug use and should be addressed by future research.