Elsevier

Journal of Pediatric Nursing

Volume 29, Issue 6, November–December 2014, Pages 633-640
Journal of Pediatric Nursing

Acculturation, Risk Behaviors and Physical Dating Violence Victimization Among Cuban-American Adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2014.03.001Get rights and content

The purpose of this study is to describe the relationships among acculturation, risk behaviors, and reported physical dating violence among Cuban-American ninth grade adolescents. Participants (N = 82) completed a questionnaire that assessed their level of acculturation to the U.S. (Americanism), their maintenance of the Hispanic culture (Hispanicism), binge drinking, drug use, sexual intercourse, condom use and physical dating violence victimization. Multiple logistic regression was conducted. Hispanicism was associated with a decrease in odds of reporting physical dating violence victimization. Drug use and not using a condom were associated with an increase in odds of reporting physical dating violence victimization.

Section snippets

Acculturation to the U.S. and Risk Behaviors Among Hispanic Youth

Acculturation, the process of acquiring the cultural elements of the host society, is a complex process for Hispanics in the U.S. that has been linked to health outcomes of public health significance (Lara, Gamboa, Kahramanian, Morales, & Hayes Bautista, 2013). Despite the large body of research examining the relationships among acculturation, risky behaviors such as substance abuse and dietary practices, and health for Hispanics, the substantive findings regarding its impact have been

Design

Baseline data from a small randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a school-based and ecological intervention aiming to prevent dating violence among Hispanic adolescents were used for this paper (n = 82). Although baseline data were collected from Hispanic adolescents, a parent or caregiver and school personnel as part of the larger study, only baseline data for the Hispanic adolescent are being used for this paper.

Sample & Setting

The sample consisted of

Participant Characteristics

Participant characteristics are described in Table 1. The majority of students were born outside the U.S. (52.4%), preferred to speak English (74.4%), and were bicultural, scoring high on both the Americanism (M = 3.40, SD = .75) and Hispanicism subscales (M = 2.86, SD = .75). A small proportion of students were currently dating (28.0%), and 14.7% indicated that they had been the victim of physical DV in the past 12 months. Substance abuse and risky sexual behaviors were reported by a large minority of

Discussion

The purpose of this study is to advance knowledge in the area of DV among Hispanic youth by examining the relationship between acculturation, risk behaviors, and DV victimization within a specific Hispanic subgroup—Cuban-Americans. The findings of this study are unique in that no previous studies have simultaneously examined the impact of these factors on DV victimization despite research demonstrating independent association of each of these factors and DV among Hispanic youth. A better

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Program (Grant ID# 69341, PI: Gonzalez-Guarda, R.M.). Supplemental support was received from the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies and the Miami Dade County Department of Community Action and Human Services, Coordinated Victim Assistance Center (CVAC). The authors would like to thank the Community Advisory Board for the Partnership for Domestic Violence Prevention at CVAC and the

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