Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Acculturation, Gender, Depression, and Cigarette Smoking Among U.S. Hispanic Youth: The Mediating Role of Perceived Discrimination

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hispanic youth are at risk for experiencing depressive symptoms and smoking cigarettes, and risk for depressive symptoms and cigarette use increase as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. culture. The mechanism by which acculturation leads to symptoms of depression and cigarette smoking is not well understood. The present study examined whether perceived discrimination explained the associations of acculturation with depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking among 1,124 Hispanic youth (54% female). Youth in Southern California completed surveys in 9th–11th grade. Separate analyses by gender showed that perceived discrimination explained the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms for girls only. There was also evidence that discrimination explained the relationship between acculturation and cigarette smoking among girls, but the effect was only marginally significant. Acculturation was associated with depressive symptoms and smoking among girls only. Perceived discrimination predicted depressive symptoms in both genders, and discrimination was positively associated with cigarette smoking for girls but not boys. These results support the notion that, although Hispanic boys and girls experience acculturation and discrimination, their mental health and smoking behaviors are differentially affected by these experiences. Moreover, the results indicate that acculturation, gender, and discrimination are important factors to consider when addressing Hispanic youth’s mental health and substance use behaviors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alegria, M., Canino, G., Shrout, P. E., Woo, M., Duan, N., Vila, D., et al. (2008). Prevalence of mental illness in immigrant and non-immigrant U.S. Latino groups. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(3), 359–369.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alegria, M., Shrout, P. E., Woo, M., Guarnaccia, P., Sribney, W., Vila, D., et al. (2007). Understanding differences in past year psychiatric disorders for Latinos living in the US. Social Science and Medicine, 65(2), 214–230.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alegria, M., Vila, D., Woo, M., Canino, G., Takeuchi, D., Vera, M., et al. (2004). Cultural relevance and equivalence in the NLAAS instrument: Integrating etic and emic in the development of cross-cultural measures for a psychiatric epidemiology and services study of Latinos. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 270–288.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Andrade, L., Caraveo-Anduaga, J., Berglund, P., Bijl, R. V., De Graaf, R., Vollebergh, W., et al. (2003). The epidemiology of major depressive episodes: Results from the international consortium of psychiatric epidemiology (ICPE) surveys. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 12(1), 3–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W., Trimble, J. E., & Olmedo, E. L. (1986). Assessment of acculturation. In J. W. Berry (Ed.), Field methods in cross-cultural research (pp. 291–324). Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bethel, J. W., & Schenker, M. B. (2005). Acculturation and smoking patterns among Hispanics: A review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29(2), 143–148.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N., Peterson, E. L., Schultz, L. R., Chilcoat, H. D., & Andreski, P. (1998). Major depression and stages of smoking: A longitudinal investigation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55(2), 161–166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cabassa, L. J. (2003). Measuring acculturation: Where we are and where we need to go. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25(2), 127–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Center for Disease Control, Prevention (CDC). (2009). Smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses—United States, 2000–4. MMWR, 57, 1226–1228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, B., Alegría, M., Lin, J. Y., & Guo, J. (2009). Pathways and correlates connecting Latinos’ mental health with exposure to the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 99(12), 2247–2254.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics’. The University of Chicago Legal Forum, 139.

  • Cuéllar, I., Arnold, B., & Maldonado, R. (1995). Acculturation rating scale for Mexican Americans-II: A revision of the original ARSMA scale. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 17(3), 275–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Rosa, M. R. (2002). Acculturation and Latino adolescents’ substance use: A research agenda for the future. Substance Use and Misuse, 37(4), 429–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emslie, G. J., Weinberg, W. A., Rush, A. J., & Adams, R. M. (1990). Depressive symptoms by self-report in adolescence: Phase I of the development of a questionnaire by self-report. Journal of Child Neurology, 5(2), 114–121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, J. A., Botvin, G. J., & Diaz, T. (1998). Linguistic acculturation and gender effects on smoking among Hispanic youth. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 27(4), 583–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Espin, O. M. (1987). Psychological impact of migration on Latinas: Implications for psychotherapeutic practice. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11(4), 489–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gil, R. M., & Vazquez, C. I. (1996). The Maria paradox. How Latinas can merge old world traditions with new world esteem. New York: Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales, N. A., Deardorff, J., Formoso, D., Barr, A., & Barrera, M., Jr. (2006). Family mediators of the relation between acculturation and adolescent mental health. Family Relations, 55(3), 318–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guyll, M., Matthews, K. A., & Bromberger, J. T. (2001). Discrimination and unfair treatment: Relationship to cardiovascular reactivity among African American and european american women. Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology American Psychological Association, 20(5), 315–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammen, C. (2005). Stress and depression. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 293–319.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2009). Monitoring the future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2008 (NIH publication no. 09-7401). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kam, J. A., Cleveland, M. J., & Hecht, M. L. (2010). Applying general strain theory to examine perceived discrimination’s indirect relation to Mexican-heritage youth’s alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Prevention Science, 11, 397–410.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., MacLean, C. J., Heath, A. C., Eaves, L. J., & Kessler, R. C. (1993). Smoking and major depression. A causal analysis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50(1), 36–43.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lara, M., Gamboa, C., Kahramanian, M. I., Morales, L. S., & Bautista, D. E. H. (2005). Acculturation and Latino health in the United States: A review of the literature and its sociopolitical context. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 367–397.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oetting, G. R., & Beauvais, F. (1990). Orthogonal cultural identification theory: The cultural identification of minority adolescents. International Journal of the Addictions, 25(5-), 655–685.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ong, A. D., Fuller-Rowell, T., & Burrow, A. L. (2009). Racial discrimination and the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(6), 1259–1271.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, D. J., Fortuna, L., & Alegría, M. (2008). Prevalence and correlates of everyday discrimination among U.S. Latinos. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(4), 421–433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pessar, P. R. (1999). Engendering migration studies. American Behavioral Scientist, 42(4), 577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pomerleau, O. F., & Pomerleau, C. S. (1991). Research on stress and smoking: Progress and problems. British Journal of Addiction, 86(5), 599–603.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, L. A., & Brody, D. J. (2010). Depression and smoking in the U.S. household population aged 20 and over, 2005–2008. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (CDC), HCHS Data Brief, No. 4.

  • Prokhorov, A. V., Winickoff, J. P., Ahluwalia, J. S., Ossip-Klein, D., Tanski, S., Lando, H. A., et al. (2006). Youth tobacco use: A global perspective for child health care clinicians. Pediatrics, 118(3), e890.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quattrocki, E., Baird, A., & Yurgelun-Todd, D. (2000). Biological aspects of the link between smoking and depression. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 8(3), 99–110.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (2003). The impact of multiple dimensions of ethnic identity on discrimination and adolescents Self-Estees. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(11), 2288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarmiento, I. A., & Cardemil, E. V. (2009). Family functioning and depression in low income Latino couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 35(4), 432–445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sias, J. J., Urquidi, U. J., Bristow, Z. M., Rodriguez, J. C., & Ortiz, M. (2008). Evaluation of smoking cessation behaviors and interventions among Latino smokers at low-income clinics in a US-Mexico border county. Addictive Behaviors, 33(2), 373–380.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smart, J. F., & Smart, D. W. (1995). Acculturative stress of hispanics: Loss and challenge. Journal of Counseling & Development, 73(4), 390–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • SPSS for Windows. (2009). PASW Statistics Release 18.0.0 (July 13). SPSS Inc., Chicago.

  • Sullivan, S., Schwartz, S. J., Prado, G., Huang, S., Pantin, H., & Szapocznik, J. (2007). A bidimensional model of acculturation for examining differences in family functioning and behavior problems in Hispanic immigrant adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 27(4), 405–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyas, S. L., & Pederson, L. L. (1998). Psychosocial factors related to adolescent smoking: A critical review of the literature. Tobacco Control, 7(4), 409.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Umaña-Taylor, A. J., & Fine, M. A. (2001). Methodological implications of grouping Latino adolescents into one collective ethnic group. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 23(4), 347–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Unger, J. B., Ritt-Olson, A., Soto, D. W., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2009a). Parent–child acculturation discrepancies as a risk factor for substance use among Hispanic adolescents in southern California. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 11(3), 149–157.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Unger, J. B., Ritt-Olson, A., Wagner, K. D., Soto, D. W., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2009b). Parent–child acculturation patterns and substance use among Hispanic adolescents: A longitudinal analysis. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 30(3–4), 293–313.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). Nation’s populations one-third minority. Retrieved September 02, 2010, from http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb06-72.html.

  • Valenzuela, A., Jr. (1999). Gender roles and settlement activities among children and their immigrant families. American Behavioral Scientist, 42(4), 720–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vega, W. A., & Sribney, W. M. (2008). Latino population demographics, risk factors, and depression: A case study of the Mexican-American prevalence and services survey. In T. P. Gullotta (Ed.), Depression in Latinos: Assessment, treatment, and prevention (pp. 29–52). New York, NY, USA: Springer Science+Business Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weersing, R. V., & Brent, D. A. (2006). Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression in youth. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 15, 939–957.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiehe, S. E., Aalsma, M. C., Liu, G. C., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2010). Gender differences in the association between perceived discrimination and adolescent smoking. American Journal of Public Health, 100(3), 510–516.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant # DA016310), and the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center/NIDA Pre-doctoral Training Fellowship (Grant # T32DA007267).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco

  2. University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jennifer B. Unger, Anamara Ritt-Olson, Daniel Soto & Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati

Authors
  1. Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer B. Unger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anamara Ritt-Olson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniel Soto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lorenzo-Blanco, E.I., Unger, J.B., Ritt-Olson, A. et al. Acculturation, Gender, Depression, and Cigarette Smoking Among U.S. Hispanic Youth: The Mediating Role of Perceived Discrimination. J Youth Adolescence 40, 1519–1533 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9633-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9633-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation