Drug abuse prevention program development. Results among Latino and non-Latino white adolescents

Five program development studies from Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND) were re-analyzed to discern Latino versus non-Latino Whites similarities and differences in receptivity to a wide variety of high school-based drug abuse prevention activities. In most of the program development studies, these youth attended alternative (continuation) high schools in Southern California. Although there were a total of 46% Latino students in these schools, 99% of the students indicated English as the main language spoken at school and home. Thus, taken together, almost all Latino youth in the various studies analyzed preferred to respond to survey questions in English. Latinos were relatively low in socioeconomic status (SES) and used drugs less frequently. Still, this group of highly acculturated Latinos and non-Latino Whites (37% of the school population) perceived that they were attending alternative schools for the same reasons (e.g., lack of credits, truancy). Very few differences in receptivity ratings of proposed TND activities were found as a function of ethnicity. In other words, the data suggest that the same types of lessons are applicable to older teens in both ethnic groups.