Prevention Science
Volume 9, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 299-310

Immigration generation status and its association with suicide attempts, substance use, and depressive symptoms among Latino adolescents in the USA (Article)

Peña J.B. , Wyman P.A. , Brown C.H. , Matthieu M.M. , Olivares T.E. , Hartel D. , Zayas L.H.
  • a George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States
  • b Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States
  • c College of Public Health-Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
  • d George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States
  • e Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States
  • f Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
  • g George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States

Abstract

This study investigated the relation between suicide attempts and immigrant generation status using the Latino subset of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a school-based, nationally representative sample. This study also examined whether generation status predicted risk factors associated with elevated suicide behaviors, namely illicit substance use, problematic alcohol use, and depressive symptoms. Finally, hypothesizing that elevated depressive symptoms and substance use mediate the relation between immigrant generation status and suicide attempts among Latino adolescents, a path model was tested. Our findings revealed immigrant generation status was a determinant for suicide attempts, problematic alcohol use, repeated marijuana use, and repeated other drug use for Latino adolescents. US-born Latinos with immigrant parents (i.e., second-generation youth) were 2.87 (95% CI, 1.34, 6.14) times more likely to attempt suicide, 2.27 (95% CI, 1.53, 3.35) times more likely to engage in problematic alcohol use, 2.56 (95% CI, 1.62, 4.05) times more likely to engage in repeated marijuana use, and 2.28 (95% CI, 1.25, 4.17) times more likely to engage in repeated other drug use than were foreign-born youth (i.e., first-generation youth). Later-generations of US-born Latino youth with US-born parents were 3.57 (95% CI, 1.53-8.34) times more likely to attempt suicide, 3.34 (95% CI, 2.18-5.11) times more likely to engage in problematic alcohol use, 3.90 (95% CI, 2.46, 6.20) times more likely to engage in repeated marijuana use, and 2.80 (95% CI, 1.46, 5.34) times more likely to engage in repeated other drug use than were first-generation youth. Results from the path analysis indicated that repeated other drug use may mediate the effect of generation status on suicide attempts. © 2008 Society for Prevention Research.

Author Keywords

Suicide Depression Substance use Hispanic Americans Immigration Adolescence

Index Keywords

Cohort Effect depression psychological aspect poverty risk human epidemiology Cohort Studies suicide attempt Odds Ratio statistics Substance-Related Disorders Suicide, Attempted ethnology Hispanic Americans United States Humans Hispanic Adolescent male female risk factor Risk Factors Article migration cohort analysis Emigration and Immigration addiction
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-55549140123&doi=10.1007%2fs11121-008-0105-x&partnerID=40&md5=4b7c9b2b9d2f8f9d305a2f5fd9916325
DOI: 10.1007/s11121-008-0105-x
ISSN: 13894986
Cited by: 120
Original Language: English