Elsevier

Academic Pediatrics

Volume 16, Issue 3, April 2016, Pages 275-281
Academic Pediatrics

Adolescents and Substance Abuse
Grit: A Potential Protective Factor Against Substance Use and Other Risk Behaviors Among Latino Adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2015.12.016Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

Grit, defined as “working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress,” is strongly associated with academic achievement and life success and may also be associated with health outcomes and behaviors. We examined predictors of grit, and the association between grit and health behaviors among at-risk Latino adolescents.

Methods

We analyzed baseline survey data collected in 2013–2014 from a sample of 1270 9th graders in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles. We examined factors associated with grit and whether grit is associated with substance use and delinquent behaviors, controlling for adolescent and parent sociodemographic factors.

Results

In a sample of mostly Latino adolescents (89.5%), compared to those with low grit, those with high grit had significantly lower odds of alcohol use in the last 30 days (odds ratio 0.30, P < .001), marijuana use (odds ratio 0.21, P < .05), and fighting (odds ratio 0.58, P < .05). Involvement in delinquent behavior was also lower (β = −0.71, P < .001). Factors associated with more grit included authoritative parenting style, parental employment, and high self-efficacy scores.

Conclusions

Grit may be an important candidate protective factor against substance use and other risk behaviors among Latino adolescents.

Section snippets

Methods

We analyzed the baseline data from the RISE UP study, which is a natural experimental study designed to understand the impact of high-performing school environments on adolescent health and health behaviors. RISE UP is a follow-up study from RISE (Reducing health Inequities through Social and Educational change Study),1 which surveyed applicants to 3 high-performing public charter high schools in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles to test the hypothesis that exposure to such schools

Results

A total of 1996 students were identified from the applicant list for the 5 charter schools to participate in our study. One hundred forty (7.0%) were excluded for sibling admission preference, 27 (1.4%) for moving out of the Los Angeles area, and 320 (16.0%) because they could not be located or contacted. Of the remaining 1509 students eligible for the study, 239 (15.8%) refused participation. The final sample consisted of 1270 students.

The baseline sample of 9th grade students was mostly

Discussion

Although education and health outcomes are closely linked, it has been theorized that social-emotional and other noncognitive skills learned in childhood and adolescence are the key ingredients that lead to both better educational and health trajectories over the life course. Educational researchers have found that social-emotional skills can lead to improved scholastic performance, including more positive social behaviors, fewer conduct problems, and better grades.9, 26 Yet much less is known

Acknowledgment

Supported in part by a diversity supplement grant to LRG from the US National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA033362-03S2, PI Wong).

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    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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