Substance Abuse in Latinx

Community
By: Arantxa De Anda, Gabriela Quintero & Annie Sperr
 Statistics on Substance Abuse
✢ Latinx population is ✢ Socio-demographic
growing at a rapid rate characteristics
○ 97 million by 2050! ○ Acculturation
✢ Lower rate of illicit drug ○ Higher
use compared to European acculturation
Americans linked to dual
✢ Similar rates of alcohol diagnoses
consumption ○ Migration to the U.S.
✢ Higher rates of substance ○ Born in the
abuse or dependance U.S./immigrate at
✢ 26% of Latinx population a young age-
reported binge drinking more likely to use
illicit drugs &
alcohol than
those born in
Alvarez, Jason, Olson, Ferrari, & Davis, 2007; Villalobos & Bridges, 2017; Burrow-Sanchez &
Mexico/Puerto
Hops, 2018; Guerrero et al., 2013 2
Risk Factors
✢ Poverty
○ Individuals of Mexican origin: 60% of
Latinos
○ Twice the rate of poverty of other
groups in the U.S.
✢ Low socioeconomic status
○ 10 % of Mexican adolescents belong
to gangs
○ High exposure to delinquent peers
✢ Harsh or neglectful parenting
✢ Parent alcohol/drug use

Cruz, King, Mechammil, & Bamaca-Colbert, 2017; Crunkliton, Paz, & Boyle, 3
Protective Factors

✢ Acculturation
○ Individual & community
changes in values,
behaviors, and preferred
modes of expression
between two cultures
○ Adoption of American-
cultural practices , values
and identity
○ Connection to Latinx
4
traditions & cultural
Cruz, King, Mechammil, norms 2017
& Bamaca-Colbert,
Protective Factors
✢ Respeto
○ Respect involves
obedience & deference to
parents, grandparents
and authority figures
✢ Familism
○ Traditional family values
○ Integrated at a young age
○ Centrality of family &
stress obligations and
support of family
5
members Cruz, King, Mechammil, & Bamaca-Colbert,
Substance Abuse Patterns
✢ Depressive symptoms
○ Caused by stressful & negative
experiences
✢ Higher chance of leading into substance
abuse if they perceive social exclusion,
feel emotional distress
✢ Use drugs to reduce their “social pain”
✢ Family history of substance abuse

6
Barriers to Identification and
Treatment
✢ Stigma
✢ Cultural attitudes
✢ Linguistic gaps
○ Acculturation
✢ Lack of familiarity
with the substance
use treatment
system
Guerrero, Marsh, Cao, Shin & Andrews, 2014; Pinedo, Zemore & Rogers, 2018;
Vaeth, Wang-Schweig & Caetano, 2017; Zemore, Mulia, Ye, Borges & 7
Greenfield, 2009
 Evidence-Based Treatments
A-CBT Motivational Integrated Services for
✢ Interviewing / Co-Occurring Disorders
CBT with cultural
Motivational ✢
accommodations Mental health
✢ Enhancement
Participants in the disorders are
A-CBT group had ✢ MI books in over 20 diagnosed at a higher
lower levels of languages and rate in those with
substance use after trainings offered in substance/alcohol use
12-months over 40 languages disorders
✢ Don’t know exactly ✢ Listening and ✢ Those in the
how it was adapted empathy is cross- integrated approach
cultural group had better
✢ Larger effect sizes outcomes
on ethnic minority ○ More days
population than abstinent
majority White ○ Less depressive
population symptoms
Burrow-Sanchez & Hops, 2018; Guerrero
○ et Better
al., 2013; Hesse, 2009
retention
8
Evidence-Based Treatments
Continued....
Multidimensional Family Therapy
(MDFT)
✢ Compared CBT to MDFT
✢ More effective for substance use
severity and frequency
treatment
✢ Decreased substance use
among youth demonstrating
substance use and psychiatric
comorbidity
✢ Need for further research on
family-based treatments

9
 Gaps in Research /
Implications
✢ Interventions need to understand the barriers
✢ Incorporating cultural values in treatment interventions
○ Use the Latinx culture’s norms, language & symbols
✢ Recognize discrimination and immigration experiences to
increase retention and engagement
✢ Lack of adequate samples
○ Recruiting strategies and location of studies
✢ Most studies look at Latinx as one homogenous group
○ Limits the research
✢ What are culturally adapted interventions and how are they
culturally adapted?

Alegría et al., 2006; Castro & Alarcon, 2002; Documét & Sharma, 2004; Guerrero et al., 2013;
Pagano, 2014; Zemore et al., 2009 10
Strategies for Engagement and
Retention in Treatment
✢ Cultural sensitivity
✢ Providing education
✢ Establishing effective referral
processes

Alegría et al., 2006; Caetano & Galvan, 2003; Castro & Alarcon,
2002; Documét & Sharma, 2004; Guerrero et al., 2013; Pagano,
2014; Zemore, Mulia, Ye, Borges & Greenfield, 2009

11
Resource: Asana
Recovery

12
 BINGO!
Go to this website on your device,
click “Generate Card”, then click
“Okay, I understand.”

bingobaker.com/play/22
61039

13
Thanks!
Any questions?

14