295011
Substance use and social capital among recent Latino immigrants in south Florida
Methods: Longitudinal study of 527 RLIs with 2 years follow-up. Social capital was assessed through an assets inventory measuring community engagement. AUDIT questionnaire for alcohol and a timeline followback' method for illicit drugs were used to assess substance-use. To analyze changes, paired t-tests and McNemar tests were performed with SPSS 18. To explore associations over time, a generalized linear model (PROC GENMOD SAS 9.3) was used
Results: Post-immigration, social capital and hazardous drinking decreased (p˂.001, p=.001).Females were 70% less likely to engage in hazardous drinking (p˂.001), and 41.2% less likely to engage in illicit drug use (p=.01). After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, individuals with a one-unit increase in friend & other social capital' were 29.6% less likely to engage in illicit drug use (p=.02); individuals with a one-unit increase in business social capital were 60% more likely to engage in illicit drug use (p=.02)
Conclusions: Post-immigration, males are more likely to engage in substance-use. Over time, individuals with less friend & other' social capital, are more likely to engage in illicit drug use; individuals with higher business social capital are more likely to engage in illicit drug use. When developing interventions/treatment, public health programs should incorporate these social capital components that may affect risk.
Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programsPublic health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Describe changes in social capital and substance use (alcohol and illicit drugs) among recent Latino immigrants (RLIs) in South Florida pre to post immigration. Explore the association between social capital and substance-use over time.
Keyword(s): Substance Abuse Assessment, Immigrants
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a co-author on the abstract, and have been research HIV behavior among recent Latino immigrants for over five years
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.