Self-esteem,Acculturative Stress,and Marijuana Use Among Hispanic College Students

Introduction

The number of Hispanic individuals residing in the U.S. is increasing (United States Government Census Bureau, 2016), yet health-related disparities remain an overlooked problem relevant to this sizable sub-population. Substance use is prevalent among Hispanics, with elevated rates of marijuana use often reported among Hispanic adolescents and young adults relative to their White, non-Hispanic peers (Oluwoye et al., 2016). Previous research has also shown significant increases over the past 10 years in incidence of marijuana initiation and prevalence of use among Hispanic youth and adults (Marzell et al., 2017). There is a need to study unique factors that may be associated with substance use, especially marijuana use (Marzell et al., 2017; Oluwoye et al., 2016), among Hispanic young adults.

A possible factor that may partially account for the burgeoning rates of marijuana use among Hispanic young adults is acculturative stress. Multidimensional in nature, acculturative stress can be defined as experiencing stress in language competency and cultural norms due to adaptation to a new culture and can negatively affect the health status of a particular individual (Berry et al., 1987). Berry et al. (1987) defines acculturative stress as “a reduction in the health status of individuals, and may include physical, psychological and social aspects; to qualify as acculturative stress, these changes should be related in a systematic way to known features of the acculturation process, as experienced by the individual” (p. 493).

Hispanic individuals may experience discrimination or changes in identity, which, along with perceived need to acculturate to the dominant culture, may be associated with increased likelihood of substance use as a potential means to cope with distress (Pokhrel et al., 2013). Though different dimensions of acculturative stress (e.g., social/personal, societal, and environmental) are probable risk factors for increased substance use among Hispanic individuals, mixed results have been found in the literature. That is, some studies (e.g., Pokhrel et al., 2013; Salas-Wright et al., 2015) show that increased acculturative stress leads to elevated marijuana use, whereas other research has shown that acculturative stress is linked to decreased marijuana and cocaine use and may serve as a protective factor against illicit-drug initiation (Mercado et al., 2017).

One construct that may be relevant to the acculturative stress-substance use relation is self-esteem. Trait self-esteem, defined as an evaluative judgment in one’s own worth or abilities (Kling et al., 1999), has been inversely associated with substance use behavior. Previous research has found that lower levels of self-esteem are correlated with engagement in risky behaviors, such as marijuana use; for example, Lian-Yu et al. (2017) showed that older boys and girls with lower self-esteem were more likely to use marijuana. Conversely, higher levels of self-esteem may serve as a protective factor; Fisher et al. (2017) found that elevated levels of self-esteem served as a mediator, accounting for shared variance between respondents’ ethnic identity and their substance use behavior. It is important to clarify the potential mediating role of self-esteem in the relation between acculturative stress and marijuana use.

Despite the increased availability and acceptability of marijuana use, due to recent policy changes, coupled with a surge in the number of Hispanic individuals in the U.S., there remains a paucity of research on substance use behavior among Hispanic young adults (Lopez-Tomayo et al., 2016), especially those enrolled in college. With increased rates of marijuana use among Hispanic individuals (Lopez-Tomayo et al., 2016), additional research is needed to address which facets of acculturative stress may be associated with a greater likelihood of reporting marijuana use among Hispanic young adults. The present study investigated associations among facets of acculturation, trait self-esteem, and marijuana use among a sample of Hispanic college students. We hypothesized that greater acculturative stress would be associated with increased likelihood of reporting lifetime marijuana use and that this relation would be mediated by levels of trait self-esteem.

Method

Results

A minority of participants (38.4%, n = 71/204) reported lifetime marijuana use. There were no significant differences between males and females in prevalence of lifetime marijuana use (χ² = 1.77, p = .41). In addition, there was no significant difference in likelihood of reporting lifetime marijuana use based on respondent age, t(202) = −.730, p = .47. Lifetime marijuana use and trait self-esteem were not correlated (r = .028, p = .70); there was a significant negative correlation between current levels of acculturative stress and likelihood of reporting lifetime marijuana use (r = −.163, p < .05).

In the moderation model (see Figure 1), when lifetime marijuana use was regressed on self-esteem, self-esteem was not associated with lifetime marijuana use (b = −.020, OR = 1.03, p = .98; 95% CI [−0.21, 1.28]). In addition, acculturative stress was associated with lifetime marijuana use (b = .−1.57, OR = 1.01, p = .010; 95% CI [.−654, −1.590]). Based on 5,000 bootstrap resamples, a test of whether self-esteem would mediate the relation between lifetime marijuana use and acculturative stress was not significant (unstandardized b = −.009, OR = .86, 95% CI [.983, 1.015]).

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Figure 1.

Self-esteem as a moderator between acculturative stress and lifetime marijuana use among Hispanic college students (N = 190).

Discussion

Marijuana use disparities among Hispanic sub-populations continue to be a major health concern. The present study found that 38.4% of Hispanic college students reported lifetime marijuana use, which is somewhat higher than what previous research has found (e.g., 36.4% in Mercado et al., 2017; 15% in Pokhrel et al., 2013). The higher prevalence of reported marijuana use is consistent with national data from the Monitoring the Future Survey, suggesting a trend toward greater cannabis use among high school students in the U.S. (Miech et al., 2017). This finding underscores the need to create theoretically informed interventions to address increasing marijuana use among college students, particularly among Hispanic students who may exposed to higher levels of acculturative stress.

Identifying potential psychological and psychosocial factors related to marijuana use among Hispanic sub-populations may elucidate risk factors to target in future prevention and intervention efforts. Self-derogation theory (Kaplan et al., 1982) posits that adolescents and young adults who experience low-self-esteem may engage in risky health behaviors to increase their self-esteem, as risky behavior engagement represents a violation of authority and social norms, which is positively regarded by peers. In contrast to this work, the present study found that self-esteem did not explain the association between acculturative stress and lifetime marijuana use. This finding is contrary to previous research suggesting that self-esteem is a potential protective factor against marijuana use (Fisher et al., 2017; Zamboanga et al., 2009). As college students age, it may be that the protective nature of trait self-esteem is overpowered by situational factors that potentiate marijuana use. Lee et al. (2018) examined associations between self-esteem and marijuana longitudinally and did not find a relation between self-esteem and marijuana for those entering young adulthood. Additional longitudinal research examining a more diverse sample of Hispanic young adults may be warranted in order to advance an understanding of the role of acculturative stress in potentiating marijuana use behavior in Hispanic populations. Additionally, further research to elucidate other psychological variables (e.g., depression, lack of self-confidence) that may be associated with increased marijuana use among Hispanic individuals is needed.

Interestingly, there was a significant negative correlation between acculturative stress and marijuana use, suggesting that acculturative stress could be a protective factor against marijuana use, contrary to findings from previous literature (Fisher et al., 2017). Perhaps young adults are cognizant of the harms associated with marijuana, and thus are finding other activities to reduce their stress. Moreover, greater societal acceptability for marijuana use could explain the negative relationship between stress and marijuana use. Additional information regarding acculturative stress among a diverse population of Hispanic young adults (e.g., not just individuals who had recently immigrated) may be particularly important to examine.

There is a paucity of literature examining the role of self-esteem in the relation between acculturative stress and marijuana use. To our knowledge, this is the first study examining these associations among Hispanics, whereas other research has focused on minority groups as a collective whole (White vs. “Other”; Fisher et al., 2017). Increasing marijuana prevalence among Hispanic young adults (Oluwoye et al., 2016) highlights the need for culturally sensitive interventions targeting substance use behaviors, which have been tailored for Hispanic young adults. Implementing interventions focusing on familism, cultural values, and diversity may be protective against future initiation and maintenance of marijuana use. For example, interventions aimed at addressing acculturative stress could serve as potential buffers against initiation and continued use of marijuana. Such strategies could lead to promising interventions intended to decrease marijuana use and increase self-esteem in Hispanic young adults (Oluwoye et al., 2016). Further, incorporating the use of protective behavioral strategies, such as avoiding buying marijuana and avoiding large social gatherings where marijuana may be present, have been shown to decrease the likelihood of marijuana use (Pedersen et al., 2016) and may serve as important protective factors against increased marijuana use in young adulthood.