Emotional distress, alcohol use, and peer violence among Mexican-American and European-American adolescents

Author: Tschann, J. M. / Flores, E. / Pasch, L. A. / VanOss Marin, B.
Publication: J Adolesc Health
Link to Published Abstract
Topics: Age Group Alcohol Ethnicity Gun Carrying
Keywords: Adolescent Alcohol European-American Mexican-American Violence
Bibliographic information +

The article examines the association between emotional distress, alcohol use, and peer violence among 12-15 year olds. A total of 297 respondents were sampled from the membership list of a health care organization. Young people initially were surveyed about emotional distress (between 1993-95), 6 moths later they were surveyed about alcohol use, and then about violence after another 6 months. Assessment of violence included assaultive behavior and whether his or her friends carry a gun (ranging from none to all). One-fifth of the respondents had a friend who had carried a gun in the past year, Mexican-American males were most likely to say that they had a friend who carried a gun (32%).