Six-Wave Study of the Consistency of Mexican/Mexican American Preadolescents Lifetime Substance Use Reports

• NCJ Number: 231075
• Journal: Journal of Drug Education Volume: 39 Issue: 4 Dated: 2009 Pages: 361-384
• Author(s): David A. Wagstaff, Ph.D.; Stephen Kulis, Ph.D.; Elvira Elek, Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2009
• Length: 24 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA005629
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the consistency of Mexican and Mexican-American youths' self-reports of lifetime alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, and inhalant use.

Abstract

In the fall of 2004, 1,948 5th grade students from Phoenix, AZ, enrolled in an evaluation of a school-based, substance use prevention intervention. To assess the consistency of Mexican and Mexican-American students' self-reports of lifetime substance use, the present study analyzed data reported by 1,418 students who reported Mexican ancestry and completed 2 to 6 questionnaires administered over a 40-month period. By wave 6, which was completed in March 2008, lifetime alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, and inhalant use rates were 86.0 percent, 65.0 percent, 64.5 percent, and 62.1 percent, respectively. Corresponding rescission rates were 24.0 percent, 9.6 percent, 5.8 percent, and 9.2 percent. Reporting patterns with one "Yes-No" sequence accounted for more than 88 percent of the inconsistent self-reports. This finding suggests that the majority of Mexican/Mexican-American preadolescents participating in a substance use prevention intervention provided logically consistent self-reports of lifetime substance use. Tables, references (Published Abstract)