Cultural Traditions as "Protective Factors" Among Latino Children of Illicit Drug Users

• NCJ Number: 219722
• Journal: Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 42 Issue: 4 Dated: May 2007 Pages: 621-642
• Author(s): Felipe Gonzalez Castro; Julie Garfinkle; Diana Naranjo; Maria Rollins; Judith S. Brook; David W. Brook
• Date Published: May 2007
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 DA11116
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined family bonding among Hispanic adolescents whose fathers were illicit drug users who had been referred to a drug screening and treatment program.

Abstract

The study findings show that the father's level of marijuana and/or methamphetamine use was not linked to Hispanic adolescents' family bonding, measured by the level of connectedness and positive feelings toward parents and other family members. Even among youth whose fathers were users of illicit drugs, positive and close relationships existed and operated as a healthy alternative to alienation and separation from the family. A strong Latino orientation that included having emotional needs and interests favorable to the Latino culture and its people was significantly related to Hispanic adolescents' family bonding; however, there was evidence that optimal family bonding might have occurred among youth with a bicultural orientation. These findings suggest the importance of culturally enhanced delinquency prevention programs for Latino youth that emphasize strengthening the family. More definitive studies must be conducted in order to identify the protective strength of specific cultural factors. The youth sample consisted of 23 youth-father pair who participated in a larger study of the father's drug use and risk for HIV/AIDS infection. The fathers identified themselves as one of two subgroups of Latinos or Hispanics, Mexican-Americans/Chicanos or Mexicans (born in Mexico). Participating families were recruited from a drug screening and treatment center in a metropolitan city in the Southwest. The scales administered to participants measured family bonding, social responsibility, level of acculturation in middle school, family traditionalism, American orientation, Latino orientation, and father's marijuana and methamphetamine use in the past year. 4 tables, 54 references, and appended study instruments