Gateway Polydrug Use Among Puerto Rican and Dominican Adolescents Residing in New York City: The Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

ABSTRACT Most research of ethnic differences in adolescent drug use resorts to combining all Hispanic individuals into one group. This study focused on polydrug use among adolescents residing in an inner-city region by Hispanic ethnicity (Puerto Rican versus Dominican) and gender. Puerto Rican and Dominican students in 22 New York City middle schools participated. Sixth and seventh graders completed self-report questionnaires with measures of the three gateway drugs (cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) at baseline (N = 849) and at a one-year follow-up (N = 678). In the first year of middle school, gender moderated the effect of Hispanic ethnicity on lifetime polydrug use. Specifically, Dominican boys reported greater polydrug use than Dominican girls, but use was similar across gender for Puerto Rican adolescents. In the second year of middle school, this pattern extended to more serious levels of polydrug use as measured by current polydrug use and composite polydrug frequency. Consequently, both Hispanic ethnicity and gender mattered in determining adolescent polydrug use.