Thread: Acculturation Stress Makes Latino Teens Turn to Pot, Alcohol

Acculturation Stress Makes Latino Teens Turn to Pot, Alcohol

By Carolyn Salazar
Published December 30, 2010

A study says Mexican teens trying to assimilate to the U.S. culture end up turning to pot and alcohol because of acculturation stress.

Mexican middle school students in the Phoenix area are taking up alcohol and marijuana because they feel they are discriminated against, according to a new study.

The study, in the December issue of Prevention Science, said Mexican and Mexican American students who were trying to assimilate to the mainstream U.S. culture had a tough time coping – triggering stress. The stress puts the students at a higher risk for alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana dependence, the study says.

“As levels of perceived discrimination and acculturation stress increased with age, so did the risk for substance use," said lead author Jennifer Kam, assistant professor in the School of Communication at Ohio State University.

The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, followed 1,106 fifth through eighth graders of Mexican heritage in 29 public middle schools in Phoenix and surrounding areas.

"Acculturation stress is often associated with anxiety, anger and depression. It is a complex process that involves challenges and troubles that often stem from tension between one's native culture and the mainstream culture,â€

Latino Teens Feel Discrimination

By Wil Cruz

Published October 21, 2010

Latino teenagers feel discrimination from schools, law enforcement and the workplace, according to a study.

U.S.-born Latino teenagers in different regions of the country feel discrimination from key institutions in their lives -- school, law enforcement and the workplace, according to a national study.

The National Council of La Raza, a national civil rights and advocacy organization, interviewed 60 Latino teens, ages 15 to 17, from Langley Park, MD, Nashville, TN, Providence, RI, and Los Angeles, CA.

The youngsters said teachers, employers and police officers negatively stereotype them and their families, the study found.

In schools, for example, educational institutions Hispanic students are overlooked and inaccurately placed in classes. One unidentified, English-speaking student who moved to Tennessee from California told interviewers that her new school placed her in an ESL class.

"It was only because I was Hispanic," she said, according to the study. "The first day I went to that class, and they left me there and they put me in the reading class like for dummies, like para tontos, I guess."

Police departments, too, treat young Hispanics unfairly, La Raza found. The interviewees said they were profiled by cops, who wrongly thought assumed they were gang members or immigrants.

"I got stopped like five times by the same cops for no reason," one teen from Rhode Island told interviewers."

The author of the 72-page report, Patricia Foxen, said the negative treatment "shows that our nation is treating our Latino youth...as outsiders and as not quite belonging."

During a conference call, she added that the anti-immigrant discourse leading into the midterm elections adds fuel to the fire.

"The rhetoric is creating a hostile environment," she said.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2 ... z19c4jY1nt

Blame your parents and Obama for the way you feel,
American's don't play like that!

Alcohol and pot? I thought those were sacraments to help promote machismo.

"The rhetoric is creating a hostile environment," she said.


They create their own hostile environment. Who would buy this tripe? Anybody who has found themselves surrounded by Latinos anywhere quickly learns how much they hate outsiders of any stripe. And do not think that they don't act on it - they do, constantly.

So now we need to find another excuse for why so many of the non-Latino teens are turning to substance abuse?

There is much racism going on I agree that is true. From all sides but mostly whatever the so-called minorities think they can get away with. For decades now most minorities even receive better health care just for the fear of a possible discrimination lawsuit. They perpetrate hate crimes in the workplace on a daily basis, flexing their muscle in a way that creates more hate, just because they can.

We need better tools to evaluate if something is truly racist or not. All of my life I have seen people crippled by the concept of racism when in reality their problems were created by their own perceptions and incompetencies rather than actual racism. My problem with advocating for better evaluation tools is that I really see none available that are acceptable, which is why a cry of racism remains such a thought stopping cliche, stirring up the emotions and spurring people to act without giving careful consideration to the true merits of the situation.

I vote to defund the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Obviously they are merely a self- perpetuating bureaucracy intent only on finding funding for next year's payroll.

And since when did a study of 60 children of La Raza members constitute any sort of legitimate reliable data? It's all based on he said she said. I myself have a student who has been inappropriately placed in classes for his entire school career. He is now 16 and the negative pressure created by the school district has warped his personality as well as caused difficulty with the family relationships as well. It is not because he has Mexican blood, it is because the school district is cheap, education in AZ is a joke, and the only way I could get around it was if I was wealthy enough to hire attorney and have extreme adversarial relationship with the school district and since this is AZ, my wages have always been too low to purchase equality for me or mine. Am I burdened by a victim mindset or am I presenting facts? For those who say where there is a will there is a way and anything is possible in the USA is living in an alternate universe imho.

Aren't all teens going through "acculturation stress?" And hello? How much stress does their own community place on them that creates or adds to the burden? Plus most teens' reality is extremely subjective and malleable, especially so these days because proper thought process has been removed from the curriculae. How convenient.

I thought that persecution complex was the province of the Jewish people but it turns out that everyone has it.

Get over yourselves and stop wasting our money!

I think the story should focus more on the fact that if your gonna be living in a different country you should probally learn the language and adopt some of the culture and values as your own and stop trying to push you old ways on your children!

pot and alcohol because of acculturation stress.

So that's what I had!? All my great, great grandparents fault then.

What BS. Back in the 70's in LA, CA they all did it because they were the movers for the swag coming over the border. The writer need a joint and a history lesson. Operation Wetback was due to them growing pot here. It is a CULTURAL thing, not a stress thing.

..pot and alcohol because of acculturation stress

What a lame excuse. That's like saying I can't work becuase I don't own a car.