Mexican Adolescents' Intentions to Use Drugs: Gender Differences in the Protective Effects of Religiosity

IntroductionOver the past decade, substance use rates among Mexican adolescents have continued to increase (1-3). Mexican adolescents have reported increases in alcohol and tobacco use as well as earlier ages of initiation (4, 5), with males drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco earlier than their female counterparts (6-8). While gender differences in substance use among Mexican adolescents have been found (9), those differences have narrowed over time with females reporting increased rates of substance use (3). This rise is of critical concern given the association of early substance use with deleterious long-term health and social outcomes including the development of drug dependency (10, 11), academic failure, unintended accidents, risky sexual behavior, and criminal activity (5, 12-14).Given these negative outcomes associated with substance use, it is critical to understand the factors that protect Mexican adolescents from engaging in substance use. Religiosity has been identified as an important socio-cultural protective factor for Mexican adolescents against substance use (5, 15, 16). Despite its noted importance, few studies have examined if religiosity operates differently for males and females and its subsequent impact on substance use. Religiosity may reinforce traditional masculine and feminine norms, and in turn, may contribute to an exaggeration of gender differences. Therefore, a polarized approach that does not recognize the gender differences among youth may lead to lack of access or underutilization of health services and prevention programs (17). From an ecodevelopmental perspective, this article investigates if religiosity operates differently among Mexican adolescent boys and girls in relation to intentions to use alcohol and cigarettes. The overall hypothesis guiding the study is that religiosity will be protective for both boys and girls, and girls will benefit the most from the protective effects of religiosity against intentions to use alcohol and cigarettes.Ecodevelopmental theoryThe Ecodevelopmental Theory focuses on the interrelationships between adolescents' multiple social contexts and how those environments have a different influence on both adolescents' development and risk behaviors (18-20). Specifically, this theoretical approach considers the relationships between the micro, meso, exo, and macro social contexts as a multidimensional process that impacts adolescent development and behavior.The micro system, the most proximal system to adolescents, is the context that youth are directly involved with the most (e.g., parent-adolescent relationship, parental monitoring, and parent discipline) (18, 19). The meso system, the next most proximal system, examines processes that influence youth indirectly, such as degree of parental involvement in their child's schooling. Exo system factors are those that do not directly influence youth (parents receiving emotional support from their social network) and macro factors are the larger structural (e.g., economy) and cultural processes (e.g., religiosity) that influence the interpersonal relationships between families and youth (19, 20). Although exo and macro factors are not directly related to a youth's risky behaviors, they require important consideration when researching the etiology of adolescent substance use and in the structuring of sustainable and culturally relevant prevention programming (21).Culture, a macro factor, is thought to operate through familial processes (22, 23), as families play a critical role in not only child rearing and behavior socialization but also in transferring cultural values (24, 25). Culture can be defined as a group's distinct worldviews, beliefs, practices, and attitudes that are shared by the members (21, 26) and understanding the role that culture has in influencing adolescents' multiple contexts is essential since it is thought to "permeate all aspects" of an individual's social ecology (18). …