RESUMO
Club drug use and correlates were examined among 251 Hispanic college students on the Texas-México border. Participants completed questionnaires on substance use, club drug attitudes and beliefs, sexual risk-taking behaviors, depressive symptoms, and acculturation. One-quarter of participants reported club drug use. Regression analyses demonstrated that frequency and history of lifetime use were consistently associated with more permissive drug attitudes and other substance use but not sexual risk-taking, depression symptoms, or acculturation. Acculturation was negatively associated with frequency of club drug use, yet positively associated with use of other illicit substances. Avenues for future studies are suggested.
Assuntos
Usuários de Drogas/psicologia , Hispânico ou Latino/psicologia , Drogas Ilícitas/efeitos adversos , Aculturação , Adulto , Depressão/induzido quimicamente , Feminino , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Humanos , Masculino , México , Assunção de Riscos , Texas , Sexo sem Proteção/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
Little is known about the comorbidity of alcohol use, anxiety, hopelessness, and trauma among Mexican Americans, especially those living in impoverished and often isolated communities or neighborhoods (colonias in Spanish) along the U.S.-Mexico border that may be particularly vulnerable due to stressful living conditions. The current study utilized a community participatory model to investigate the relationships of alcohol use, acculturation, anxiety, hopelessness, and trauma in 100 Mexican origin colonia residents. Significant comorbidity was expected and that anxiety, hopelessness, and post-traumatic symptoms were hypothesized to be associated with the severity of the alcohol use disorders of participants. Participants who met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence reported significantly more symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress, and symptoms of anxiety were significantly associated with alcohol use disorders. This study provides evidence of the need for further investigation of stress, trauma, anxiety, hopelessness, and alcohol abuse in Mexican American residents and to inform future prevention and treatment efforts to improve both the physical and mental health of this population.