Date of Award:

5-2016

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Rick A. Cruz

Committee

Rick A. Cruz

Committee

Ginger Lockhart

Committee

Melanie Domenech Rodríguez

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how sibling relationships and family values intersect to influence Mexican origin youth’s intentions to use substances. Previous research with European-American families has indicated that the nature and quality of sibling relationships in particular plays a large role in whether or not youth will engage in substance use behaviors. In addition, high levels of family and cultural values have also been found to be strong protective factors for substance use in Latino youth. A better understanding of the relation between family values and sibling relationship processes is important in order to appropriately develop and tailor substance use prevention programs for Mexican origin youth, who are at an increased risk for engaging in early substance use. To address these questions, I used data from the California Families Project, a large longitudinal study based out of the University of California at Davis, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (DA017902). The larger study examines the development of substance use among Mexican-origin youth (N = 674), and includes 8 waves of data collected annually from both child and parents. The current project used data from the youth at the first wave of data who had an older sibling (n = 409). Unfortunately, the results of this study were not as expected, and suggest that family values and sibling relationships do not play a large role in pre-adolescent Mexican-origin individuals’ intentions for using ATOD. Despite the null findings, this study was able to add to the growing literature of Mexican-origin sibling relationships with a sample of pre-adolescent youth. Researchers should consider studying these effects further and incorporate findings to promote sibling relationships in prevention efforts of ATOD use in Latino youth, which has proven to be effective for European-American youth. Limitations to the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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