Prospective Associations Among Youth Assets and Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use in a Hispanic Youth Population

This study’s purpose was to determine whether specific youth assets (conceptualized as influencing health behavior at the individual, family, or community level) were prospectively associated with reduced alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use (ATD) in a sample of Hispanic youth. A longitudinal community-based study was conducted with five waves of data collected annually over 4 years. Participants were Hispanic youth (14.1 years old; 53% female) and their parents ( N = 306 youth/parent pairs). Generalized linear mixed models were used to determine the prospective influence of 17 youth assets on ATD over five waves of data. Results indicated that Hispanic youth with three of seven individual-level assets (e.g., educational aspirations), any of four family-level assets (e.g., family communication), or with one of six community-level assets (e.g., positive peer role models) were significantly less likely to engage in ATD. The results suggest that assets protect Hispanic youth from ATD and that family-level assets may be particularly important.

Youth Assets, Neighborhood Factors, and Alcohol Use: A Study of Health Disparities

Objective: We identified possible health disparities in prospective associations among youth assets, neighborhood environmental variables, and alcohol use. Methods: Participants were 1111 racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse youth and their parents. Seventeen youth assets assessed at Waves 1 to 4 and neighborhood factors at Wave 1 to 4 were used to make a prospective prediction of youth alcohol use at Waves 2-5 while considering youth race/ethnicity and parental income. We assessed youth alcohol use as alcohol use in the past 30 days and binge drinking in the past 6 months. We analyzed our data using marginal logistic regression. Results: Assets were prospectively associated with the absence of alcohol use in the past 30 days and binge drinking in the past 6 months for black, white and Hispanic youth, and for youth in most income categories (adjusted odds ratio range = 1.5-2.9). There were few statistically significant associations between the neighborhood environment and alcohol use outcomes. Conclusion: The results do not support the notion that the protective effects of youth assets and neighborhood environmental factors from youth alcohol use differ by youth race/ethnicity or parental income.