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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Immigr Minor Health. 2020 Dec;22(6):1273–1280. doi: 10.1007/s10903-020-01022-5

Pathways linking school-based ethnic discrimination to Latino/a adolescents’ marijuana approval and use

Farin Bakhtiari 1, Alaina E Boyle 1, Aprile D Benner 1
PMCID: PMC7679270  NIHMSID: NIHMS1596637  PMID: 32440766

Abstract

Latino/a adolescents are a growing part of U.S. public high schools, and many experience stressors related to their ethnicity within their schools that can contribute to risky behaviors such as drug use. Marijuana remains the most common illicit drug that Latino/a adolescents use. Using a sample of 121 Latino/a 9th grade students, the current study examined pathways linking perceived peer- and educator-perpetrated ethnic discrimination with marijuana approval and use. Findings revealed that perceived peer-perpetrated ethnic discrimination was linked with lower school belonging (βapproval model = −.21, p = .031; βuse model = −.18, p = .013), and lower school belonging was related to higher marijuana approval (β = −.22, p = .030), but not use. Additionally, those students with lower school belonging were more likely to experience greater depressive symptoms (βapproval model = −.45, p < .001, βuse model = −.50, p < .001), and had more close friends who smoked marijuana (βapproval model = −.28, p = .002, βuse model = −.35, p < .001). Higher depressive symptomology was associated with more marijuana use (β = .32, p = .008). Having more substance-using friends was linked with higher marijuana approval (β = .24, p = .010) and use (β = .44, p < .001). Educator-perpetrated ethnic discrimination was not associated with any of the constructs under study. Findings highlight both internalizing and externalizing pathways through which peer-perpetrated ethnic discrimination may contribute to Latino/a adolescents’ marijuana approval and use. Results have the potential to inform intervention efforts aimed at curtailing Latino/a adolescents’ marijuana use.

Keywords: Latino/a adolescents, discrimination, marijuana, school belonging, substance use

Introduction

With more than half of American states having adopted some form of legal marijuana use and many other states considering initiatives for legalization, marijuana’s potential effects on well-being are in the national dialogue. Although the controversies surrounding the benefits versus costs of marijuana use among adults are waning, there is agreement regarding marijuana’s harmful effects on young people’s socioemotional well-being, academic success, and physical health [1]. Marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug by adolescents across the United States [2]. Some national level studies suggest that Latino/a adolescents, as well as their Black counterparts, are at a relatively higher risk to engage in marijuana use compared to their White peers [3]. What makes studying marijuana use among Latino/a adolescents particularly important is their fast-growing proportions in the U.S. population generally and U.S. public schools specifically [4] and the comparatively limited research that has focused on marijuana use in this population. Furthermore, a large portion of Latino/a adolescents in the United States are members of immigrant families (i.e., either the individual or at least one of the parents is born in a Latin country [5]). Being a member of an immigrant family may put adolescents in a unique position in regard to the consequences of their risky behaviors, particularly if family members are going through naturalization/citizenship processes. Although for all adolescents marijuana-related behaviors may have criminal charges as a consequence, what makes it uniquely impactful for adolescents in immigrant families is that marijuana-related crimes are federal offenses that can impede immigrants’ naturalization process [6].

Given the prevalence of marijuana use among Latino/a adolescents in the United States and the potentially severe consequences that they may face, more research is needed to further understand the factors that may contribute to their risk-taking behaviors. One important context of development that is worthy of further investigation regarding its impact on Latino/a adolescents’ substance use behaviors is the school context given that adolescents spend the majority of their waking hours in school [7]. The current study examined perceived peer- and educator-perpetrated ethnic discrimination as potential risk factors that may contribute to Latino/a adolescents’ marijuana approval and use. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the links between perceived discrimination and adolescents’ risky behaviors by examining the potential mechanisms through which perceived ethnic discrimination at school may take its toll on adolescents. The effects of perceived ethnic discrimination at school on Latino/a adolescents’ well-being and behaviors are well-documented [8], yet less is known about the mechanisms (the nuanced pathways that may elicit certain outcomes) through which ethnic discrimination influences individuals. Elucidating prominent mechanisms could inform substance use intervention and prevention programs. We propose that one such mechanism involves school belonging. Specifically, given that a primary developmental task during adolescence is to acquire and maintain social ties [9], it was expected that perceived ethnic discrimination would undermine students’ sense of school belonging. Lower school belonging would in turn be associated with higher marijuana approval and use via two theoretically-driven potential indirect pathways: depressive symptoms and close friends’ marijuana use (see Figure 1 for conceptual model).

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

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Conceptual model depicting the links between peer- and educator-perpetrated discrimination with school belonging, depressive symptoms, close friend’s marijuana use, and Latina/o adolescents’ marijuana approval and use.

Theoretical Framework

The need to belong theory emphasizes humans’ fundamental need to belong and posits that experiences of rejection or exclusion due to personal characteristics, such as ethnicity, can undermine individuals’ belongingness [10, 11]. When this need for belonging is not met, it can contribute to both internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms) and approval-seeking behaviors (e.g., association with substance-using friends). Thus, perceived discrimination may increase adolescents’ negative emotional and behavioral responses and in turn motivate substance use [11].

Experiences of school-based discrimination can undermine students’ sense of school belonging and connectedness [12]. Students who experience ethnic discrimination and possibly lower school belonging may turn inward and report greater depressive symptoms, thereby increasing their risk for substance use for self-medication [13, 14]. Furthermore, when experiencing social exclusion at school, adolescents may also turn outward and associate with delinquent peers (e.g., substance-using friends), who may serve to satisfy their need to belong by providing acceptance [8]. It is these associations with substance-using peers that may normalize marijuana use [15].

Prior research conducted with Black and Latino/a youth has shown that depressive symptoms and association with substance-using friends mediate the links between ethnic discrimination and substance use [13, 15, 16]. To the best of our knowledge, depressive symptoms and association with substance-using friends have not been studied simultaneously in the context of school-based ethnic discrimination in adolescence. Examining these two pathways simultaneously is an important next step that could facilitate a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms linking perceived ethnic discrimination and marijuana use. Based on prior research and our theoretical justifications for our conceptual model, we expect that these pathways are likely relevant for Latinos as well as other ethnic minority members who face ethnic discrimination at school. The focus of the current study, however, is only on Latino/a adolescents because they are a fast-growing part of the nation who are at relatively high risk for marijuana use [3], and they are also a comparatively under-studied population in this area of research. Thus, while our model may generalize to not just Latino/a youth, our findings have the potential to document the applicability of our conceptual model to Latino/a adolescents in particular and inform substance use prevention and intervention programs that serve at-risk Latino/a students.

The Current Study

Data were drawn from a sample of 9th grade Latino/a students involved in a short-term longitudinal study entitled the Schools, Peers, and Adolescent Development Project (Project SPAD; [17]). We examined how perceived school-based (i.e., peer, educator) ethnic discrimination was associated with marijuana approval and use via pathways involving school belonging, depressive symptoms, and association with close friends who smoked marijuana. Based on existing theoretical and empirical evidence [11, 13, 16], we hypothesized that greater perceived ethnic discrimination (conceptualized as unfair treatment due to one’s ethnicity) would be linked with lower school belonging, higher depressive symptoms, association with more substance-using friends, and higher marijuana approval and use. Furthermore, we hypothesized that ethnic discrimination would be indirectly linked with marijuana approval and use through lower school belonging and that, in turn, would be associated with both higher depressive symptoms and association with more substance-using friends (see Figure 1). Moreover, we hypothesized that peer-perpetrated ethnic discrimination would exert a stronger influence on marijuana approval and use compared to educator-perpetrated discrimination because adolescence is a time of increased significance of relationships with same-age peers [9].

We chose 9th grade as the focus of our study because the educational system in the U.S. is organized such that students typically transition into high school in 9th grade. New school environments are often challenging for young people as they necessitate the creation and maintenance of new social ties with teachers and peers [18]. Successfully navigating these interpersonal processes are influential on students’ well-being. Developing new positive social ties may be more difficult for minority students, who experience greater incidences of ethnic discrimination in the high school context [8]. High schools are generally larger and more ethnically diverse than middle schools, thus presenting more potential perpetrators and opportunities to experience ethnic discrimination [19].

Methods

Participants

Data were drawn from the second wave of a short-term longitudinal study conducted primarily with ethnic minority students in a metropolitan city in the Southwest [17]. The original sample in the first wave included 252 8th grade students from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The current sample (N = 121) included wave 2 data for 9th grade Latino/a students for whom data were available for at least one of the current study’s main constructs (Mage = 15.56 (SD = 0.48)). More than half of the sample were girls (54%). The majority of the participants (61%) had parents with less than a high school diploma, and most (63%) were a member of an immigrant family, meaning they had at least one foreign-born parent.

Procedures

All aspects of this study were reviewed and approved by the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the school district in which the students were enrolled. The first wave of the study was conducted when students were in 8th grade (2012-2013 school year). An ‘opt in’ consent procedure was utilized; students with written parental consent and who provided assent were invited to complete a pencil-and-paper survey at school (Wave 1). Those students with parental consent to participate in follow up waves were re-contacted in 9th grade (Wave 2) and asked to complete either an online or pencil-and-paper survey (68% of Latino/a participants with consent for follow up were retained in Wave 2). Students received $15 for survey completion. All study materials were available in English and Spanish (84% completed the survey in English).

Measures

Table 1 presents bivariate correlations and descriptive statistics for the central constructs of interest, all measured in 9th grade.

Table 1.

Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlation Matrix

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Peer discrimination --
2. Educator discrimination .39*** --
3. Depressive symptoms .13 .18 --
4. Close friends’ marijuana use .09 .10 .30** --
5. School belonging −.25** −.18 −.47*** −.29** --
6. Marijuana approval .27** .16 .28** .35** −.38*** --
7. Marijuana use .02 .00 .27** .37*** −.15 .25* --
Mean 0.44 0.28 0.25 1.92 3.85 1.99 0.12
SD 0.76 0.61 0.28 1.07 0.89 0.77 0.32
N 120 120 121 116 119 96 118
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Note. N = 121.

*

p < .05

**

p < .01

***

p < .001

Perceived School-Based Ethnic Discrimination (Peer- and Educator-Perpetrated)

Latino/a students’ perceptions of ethnic discrimination over the past six months perpetrated by peers (e.g., called insulting names) and educators (e.g., disciplined unfairly) were assessed with three items for each subscale from the Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index [20]. The response options ranged from 1 (never) to 5 (a whole lot). Due to the restricted range of ratings, items were recoded into binary variables and then summed (see precedent in the literature [21]). The final count indicators ranged from 1 to 3 for each subscale (i.e., peer, educator). Higher scores represented more experiences of discrimination.

School Belonging

A five-item scale was used to measure students’ sense of school belonging (e.g., “I am happy to be at this school”) on a scale ranging from 1 (no way) to 5 (for sure yes) [22]. Higher average scores indicated greater school belonging (α = .88).

Depressive Symptoms

Depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item Children’s Depressive Inventory [23]. Participants self-reported their depressive symptoms (e.g., “I am sad) in the past two weeks using a scale ranging from 0 to 2. Higher average scores indicated greater depressive symptoms (α = .78).

Close Friends’ Marijuana Use

Participants reported the number of their close friends who smoked marijuana at least once a month or more on a scale ranging from 1 (none or almost none) to 5 (almost all) [24].

Marijuana Approval and Use

To assess marijuana approval, students were asked “Do you disapprove of people smoking marijuana occasionally?” Response options ranged from 1 (don’t disapprove) to 3 (strongly disapprove). The response options were recoded so that higher scores indicated higher approval. Students reported their marijuana use by answering the question, “On how many occasions (if any) in the past 30 days have you used marijuana (weed, pot) or hashish (hash, hash oil)?” Response option ranged from 1 (0 times) to 7 (40+ times) [24]. A dichotomous indicator was created (0 = no marijuana use, 1 = some marijuana use).

Covariates

In all analyses, we controlled for adolescents’ gender (0 = male, 1 = female), nativity (0 = foreign-born, 1 = U.S.-born), and parental education level (0 = neither parent graduated high school, 1 = at least one parent graduated high school or higher education level).

Analysis Plan

All analyses were conducted in Mplus version 7.3 [25]. Path analyses were conducted testing two sets of multi-mediated regression models (separate models for marijuana approval and marijuana use). Full information maximum likelihood (FIML) was used to address missing data [26], and weighted least squares mean and variance (WLSMV) was used as the estimator.

Results

In the multi-mediated models (see Figure 2 for approval and Figure 3 for use), we found no significant link between peer- or educator-perpetrated discrimination and Latino/a adolescents’ depressive symptoms, association with substance-using friends, or marijuana approval or use. The results showed that greater peer-perpetrated discrimination was linked to lower school belonging (βapproval model = −.21, p = .031, βuse model = −.18, p = .013), and lower school belonging was associated with higher marijuana approval (β = −.22, p = .030) but not use. Furthermore, students with lower school belonging reported greater depressive symptoms (βapproval model = −.45, p < .001, βuse model = −.50, p < .001) and had more close friends who smoked marijuana (βapproval model = −.28, p = .002, βuse model = −.35, p < .001). Higher depressive symptoms were associated with higher likelihood of marijuana use (β = .32, p = .008) but not approval. Students with more substance-using friends were more likely to approve of and use marijuana (βapproval model = .24, p = .010 and βuse model = .44, p < .001). Educator-perpetrated discrimination was not linked with any of the mediators (i.e., school belonging, depressive symptoms, number of substance-using friends) or marijuana outcomes.

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

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Marijuana approval mediation model. Standardized coefficients are reported. Dashed lines indicate non-significant paths. Covariates include gender, nativity, and parental education. χ2 (10) = 15.19, p = .13; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .07 [CI: .00-.13]; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .92. *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001.

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

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Marijuana use mediation model. Standardized coefficients are reported. Dashed lines indicate non-significant paths. Covariates include gender, nativity, and parental education. χ2(10) = 17.33, p = .07; RMSEA=.08 [CI: .00-.14]; CFI = .92. *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001.

No significant indirect paths from school-based ethnic discrimination to marijuana approval and use were observed. We suspected this was likely due to the small sample size, thus limiting our ability to detect the potential significant indirect effects. As such, post-hoc Monte Carlo simulation analyses were conducted with sample sizes of 100, 200, and 500 participants to determine the required power for future studies to replicate the findings reported herein [27]. To detect significant indirect paths with coefficients matched to those observed in our analyses, power analyses indicated a necessary sample size of 500 participants. Specifically, the indirect pathways for the simulated sample of 500 that would be significant with the coefficients observed in our original analyses (N = 121) are shown in bold in Table 2. These highlight the potential detrimental effects of peer-perpetrated ethnic discrimination on Latino/a adolescents’ marijuana use-related behaviors through lower school belonging, higher depressive symptoms, and higher association with substance-using friends.

Table 2.

Indirect Effects in the Marijuana Mediation Models and Monte Carlo Simulation Power Analyses

Study sample (N = 121) Monte Carlo Simulation Power for (n = 100, 200, 500)
Indirect Direct Total 100 200 500
Peer discr ➔ belong ➔ mj approval   .05   .19   .25* .080 .520 .968
Edu discr ➔ belong ➔ mj approval   .02 −.02   .03 .060 .110 .460
Peer discr ➔ depress ➔ mj approval −.00   .19   .25* .000 .000 .000
Edu discr ➔ depress ➔ mj approval   .00 −.02   .03 .000 .000 .024
Peer discr ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj approval −.00   .19   .25* .000 .010 .072
Edu discr ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj approval   .01 −.02   .03 .040 .050 .140
Peer discr ➔ belong ➔ depress ➔ mj approval   .00   .19   .25* .000 .010 .072
Edu discr ➔ belong ➔ depress ➔ mj approval   .00 −.02   .03 .000 .000 .016
Peer discr ➔ belong ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj approval   .01   .19   .25* .020 .360 .988
Edu discr ➔ belong ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj approval   .01 −.02   .03 .000 .080 .444
Peer discr ➔ belong ➔ mj use −.02   .03   .04 .000 .040 .044
Edu discr ➔ belong ➔ mj use −.01 −.11 −.01 .000 .000 .004
Peer discr ➔ depress ➔ mj use −.02   .03   .04 .000 .000 .028
Edu discr ➔ depress ➔ mj use   .04 −.11 −.01 .000 .020 .508
Peer discr ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj use −.02   .03   .04 .000 .000 .036
Edu discr ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj use   .03 −.11 −.01 .000 .040 .136
Peer discr ➔ belong ➔ depress ➔ mj use   .03   .03   .04 .000 .190 .924
Edu discr ➔ belong ➔ depress ➔ mj use   .02 −.11 −.01 .000 .030 .372
Peer discr ➔ belong ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj use   .03   .03   .04 .000 .290 .980
Edu discr ➔ belong ➔ friends’ usage ➔ mj use   .02 −.11 −.01 .000 .040 .400
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Note. Standardized results are reported. Discr = discrimination, edu = educator, belong = school belonging, depress = depressive symptoms, friends’ usage = close friends’ marijuana use, and mj = marijuana. Covariates included gender, nativity, and parental education. Bold italicized signifies the paths that, with adequate power (i.e., .8 or above), indirect effects would have been detected based on the Monte Carlo simulation.

*

p < .05

**

p < .01

***

p < .001.

Discussion

Youth that experience discrimination or exclusion based on their ethnicity are more likely to engage in risky behaviors [8]. These marginalized youth may be more inclined to use marijuana because they may try to numb the social pain associated with discrimination (i.e., self-medication hypothesis). They may also attempt to gain acceptance in alternative groups, such as substance-using peer groups [15]. The current study demonstrated how interpersonal relationships within the school context (with peers and educators) may contribute to Latino/a adolescents’ marijuana approval and use in early high school.

We did not find any direct effects from perceived ethnic discrimination to marijuana approval or use. We included the direct paths in our conceptual model in line with prior empirical findings and to account for potential alternatives pathways; however, the lack of direct effects was not unexpected and was consistent with our theoretical framework (i.e., the need to belong) that pointed to the key role of school belonging in the model. Consistent with the need to belong theory [10], when students’ sense of belonging was challenged, they were more likely to also report maladaptive internalizing issues (e.g., depressive symptoms) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., association with more substance-using friends). Our results were also in line with the self-medication hypothesis, as higher depressive symptoms were associated with higher likelihood of marijuana use. This suggests that adolescents might use marijuana as a method to manage or cope with depressive symptoms [28]. According to a national study with adolescents, Latinos, compared to their White peers, were less likely to seek treatment and medication when experiencing depressive symptoms [29]. Multiple potential reasons for lower treatment use among ethnic minority adolescents have been offered (e.g., parent language barriers, lack of culturally competent treatments), but more research is needed in this area [29]. It is suggested that the association between perceived discrimination and healthcare services use are not well understood yet [30]. Thus, future researchers may consider investigating the preference for formal treatment use versus self-medication and substance use as potential competing coping strategies when Latino/a adolescents report ethnic discrimination coinciding with depressive symptoms.

Furthermore, evidence for adolescents’ externalizing responses to poor school belonging also emerged, as lower school belonging was related to having more close friends who smoked marijuana. Delinquent peer groups offer unique opportunities for social inclusion, and these groups may attract marginalized youth seeking acceptance [31]. It should be noted that having more substance-using friends was associated with both marijuana approval and use, whereas greater depressive symptoms were only linked with marijuana use. This could be because of our conceptualization of the outcomes. Marijuana approval asked about others’ marijuana use, whereas marijuana use focused on adolescents’ self-use. It has been suggested that greater depressive symptoms can limit perspective-taking abilities [32]. Given that adolescents were asked to think about their approval for others’ marijuana use, those with higher depressive symptoms may have struggled with perspective-taking, which may explain the non-significant pathway between depressive symptoms and marijuana approval.

Finally, perceived educator-perpetrated discrimination was not linked to any of the mediators or marijuana-use related behaviors. This is likely due to low rates of educator-perpetrated discrimination in the current sample. Moreover, prior research suggests that educator discrimination is more closely tied to academic outcomes [19], which is beyond the scope of the current study.

Although the current study had multiple strengths, such as contributing to the extant literature by examining theoretically-driven mechanisms linking perceived discrimination to marijuana-related behaviors, some limitations should be acknowledged. First, the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow conclusions regarding causation. Second, the relatively small sample size (due in part to selective attrition that is common in ethnic minority participants [33]) limited our ability to detect potential indirect effects. Post hoc Monte Carlo analyses suggested that greater power would reveal significant indirect effects, and thus future work is important for replication. Moreover, although we intentionally selected our sample to examine the applicability of our conceptual model for Latino/a youth who are at relatively high risk for marijuana use [3], future research should consider replicating the study with other ethnic minority adolescents in order to establish potential generalizability of the model to other ethnic groups.

A better understanding of stressors, such as ethnic discrimination, that contribute to marijuana use is important given the serious resulting legal consequences, especially for adolescents in immigrant families. For example, violation of federal controlled substance law, including marijuana possession or use, can disqualify individuals from naturalization [6]. To address the disproportional overrepresentation of Latinos (of all ages) in marijuana-related arrests [34], various steps need to be taken. One potential preventive step is that schools may consider employing more research-informed substance-use prevention and intervention programs. Our research has the potential to inform such programs given the findings point to the important role of school belonging as a relevant factor underlying the link between school-based ethnic discrimination and marijuana use-related behaviors among Latino/a adolescents. Thus, implementing and investing in programs or curricula that promote greater connections within the school context may have not only academic benefits [12], but may reap benefits in terms of risky behaviors, such as substance use. Although Latino/a students may face stressors such as discrimination that result from their ethnic minority status or family immigration status, schools can potentially be a key promotive context in these young people’s lives that might counteract some of the negative effects of such stressors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge funding support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to Farin Bakhtiari (F31AA027158), the William T. Grant Foundation to Aprile Benner, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Aprile Benner (5K01HD087479) and the Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin (P2CHD042849). Opinions reflected in this paper are of the authors and not necessarily of the granting agencies.

Footnotes

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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