Galicia Youth Drug Use & Prevention
Early adolescents in northwest Spain
Flavio F. Marsiglia & Maria Angeles Luengo
This international collaboration between researchers from SIRC and the University of Santiago de Compostela was designed to modify keepin’ it REAL for use with a new population, middle school students in the northern region of Galicia, Spain
The study examined adaptation concerns among culturally diverse subgroups in Spain, such as immigrant and native-born youth and youth with different cultural orientations, as a prelude to the development of joint culturally appropriate prevention interventions for youth.
Surveys were administered in spring 2005 to 817 students in 7th to 10th grades in 10 urban, secondary schools with high immigrant enrollments in Galicia. The sample included Spanish natives (two-thirds) and Latin American immigrants (one-third), mainly from Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela.
Comparing Arizona (Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites) and Spain (Spanish-White) students, results showed similar trends in drug use between, with gateway drugs already in use by early adolescents, and with higher rates of drug use among males than among females. However, Arizona preadolescents were more likely to report marijuana/cannabis use than preadolescents from Spain. Comparing Latin American immigrant youth living in Spain and native Spanish youth, general results showed that Latin American were less at risk on their intentions to use substances and on their reported actual substance use.
Luengo, M. A., Kulis, S., Marsiglia, F. F., Gomez-Fraguela, J. A., Romero, E., Villar, P., & Nieri, T. A. (2008). A cross-national study of preadolescent substance use: Exploring differences between youth in Spain and Arizona. Substance Use and Misuse, 43, 1574-1596. doi: 10.1080/10826080802241078. Read full article PMCID: PMC2730163
Marsiglia, F. F., Kulis, S., Luengo, M. A., Nieri, T. A., & Villar, P. (2008). Immigrant advantage? Substance use among Latin American immigrant and native-born youth in Spain. Ethnicity and Health, 13, 149-170. doi: 10.1080/13557850701830356 Read full article PMCID: PMC3038204