Drug and alcohol use and its relationship to self-rated health: An ecological examination among Latino and non-Hispanic White adolescents

This cross-sectional study tested an ecological framework to understand factors associated with drug and alcohol use and global health assessments among Latino and non-Hispanic White adolescents ages 12–17 (N=14,176). Our investigation is one of the few empirical studies that have investigated whether there is a direct association between drug and alcohol use and global health assessments among adolescents. Using data from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, results of the path analysis model suggest that the frequency of moves, religious beliefs, deviant peer influences, and school grades were significantly associated with drug and alcohol use. Results also indicate that drug and alcohol use was the strongest predictor of self-rated health among both groups. While promising, our model was more robust in predicting drug and alcohol use and self-rated health among non-Hispanic White adolescents. Thus, an ecological framework may not fully explain which factors significantly predict drug and alcohol use or global health among Latino adolescents. More research is needed that better explains which predictors are associated with health-risk behaviors among Latino youths. Such research may potentially close the burden of a health disparity gap for Latinos at this stage and later stages of life.