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Sexual Behavior and Drug Use Among Asian and Latino Adolescents: Association with Immigrant Status

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Abstract

This paper contributes new evidence on the association between immigrant status and health by describing and attempting to explain patterns of co-occurring sex and drug use behaviors among Asian and Latino adolescents in the United States. Nine patterns of sex and drug use behaviors were identified from a cluster analysis of data from 3,924 Asian and Latino youth (grades 7–12) who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The relationship between immigrant status and risk cluster membership was evaluated with multinomial logistic regression. Compared to foreign-born youth, U.S. born Asian and Latino adolescents were more likely to engage in sex and drug risk behaviors. Family and residential characteristics associated with immigrant status partly accounted for this finding. The results indicate that among Asian and Latino adolescents, assimilation to U.S. risk behavior norms occurs rapidly and is evident by the second generation.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse through grant R01-DA14496 (Denise Hallfors, P.I). The authors would like to thank Guang Guo and Kathleen Mullan Harris. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu).

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Correspondence to Jon M. Hussey.

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M. Hussey, J., D. Hallfors, D., W. Waller, M. et al. Sexual Behavior and Drug Use Among Asian and Latino Adolescents: Association with Immigrant Status. J Immigrant Health 9, 85–94 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-006-9020-z

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