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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Perceived discrimination and substance use among Latino adolescents
Janet Okamoto1, Anamara Ritt-Olson, Daniel Soto
1Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Alhambra, CA 91803, USA. jokamoto@usc.edu
Objective:
To examine perceived discrimination and substance use among Latino high school students.
Methods:
Latino 9(th) graders (N = 1332) completed self-report measures of perceived discrimination and substance use behavior.
Results:
Perceived discrimination was associated with lifetime use measures of smoking (OR = 1.73, P < 0.01), alcohol (OR = 1.53, P < 0.01), marijuana (OR = 1.70, P < 0.01), and inhalants (OR = 1.50, P < 0.05); and past 30 day measures of smoking (OR = 2.54, P < 0.01), alcohol (OR = 1.63, P < 0.01), marijuana (OR = 1.95, P < 0.01), and inhalants (OR = 1.64, P < 0.01), and binge drinking (OR = 1.84, P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
Latino adolescents who have higher perceptions of discrimination are at risk for substance use. Interventions to help Latino adolescents cope with feelings of discrimination may be a useful addition to substance use prevention programs.
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