Patterns of substance use onset among Hispanics in Puerto Rico and the United States

Purpose: Examine patterns of progression in substance use among Hispanic youth 13 to 17 years of age from two longitudinally representative studies. Method: Patterns of substance use among youth in Puerto Rico were examined using a longitudinal study (n = 663) of adolescents living on the island. The National Longitudinal Study of Youth was used to examine patterns of substance use among Hispanics living in the United States (n = 1445). Latent transition analysis was used to estimate the probability of membership in each stage of substance use and incidence of transitions between different substance use stages over time. Results: Six stages best described the heterogeneity in substance use among youth in Puerto Rico. Five stages were sufficient to describe patterns of substance use among youth in the United States. Youth living in Puerto Rico reported lower rates of smoking and illicit drug use, but higher rates of alcohol use, when compared with rates among Hispanics in the United States. Discussion: Similar patterns of substance use were identified for Hispanic youth living in the United States and youth living in Puerto Rico. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.