School Factors and Alcohol Use: The Moderating Effect of Nativity in a National Sample of Latino Adolescents.
BACKGROUND
School is an important developmental context for adolescents and may be related to adolescent alcohol use. Less is known as to whether the relationships between school factors and alcohol use differ between Latino youth born outside of the United States versus those born in the United States.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to test nativity as a moderator of the relationship between school factors and alcohol use among Latino adolescents.


METHODS
This study used data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to test nativity as a moderator of the relationship between school factors and alcohol use in a subsample of Latino adolescents.


RESULTS
Results found that during adolescence, nativity moderates the relationship between school connectedness and Wave I alcohol use. For those born outside of the United States, school connectedness was not related to alcohol use. Significant main effects emerged for grades in school and truancy. Better grades were associated with less alcohol use, while truancy was associated with greater alcohol use. The longitudinal relationships between school factors and Wave II alcohol use were not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
School connectedness is a contemporaneous risk factor for alcohol use among those born in the United States. Prevention efforts that address school contextual factors may be important for all Latino students to reduce engagement in alcohol use and optimize well-being.
['Vaughan|Ellen L|EL|', 'Martinez|Sylvia|S|', 'Escobar|Oscar S|OS|', 'Denton|Lisa K|LK|']
D000293:Adolescent D000428:Alcohol Drinking D006630:Hispanic or Latino D006801:Humans D008137:Longitudinal Studies D012574:Schools D013334:Students
alcohol use nativity Adolescents school connectedness truancy Hispanic/Latino