# Cultural Stress, Stress Response, and Substance Use among Hispanic Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2021 · $724,333

## Abstract

The proposed study will examine the extent to which, among Hispanic youth, the effects of culturally related
stressors on alcohol/drug use and conduct problems are mediated by physiological stress responses. Prior
work has established the psychosocial and biological pathways through which physiological stress responses
potentiate alcohol/drug use and conduct problems. What is not known is the extent to which cultural stressors,
over and above other sources of stress, predict physiological stress responses, and whether cultural stressors
exert an indirect effect on alcohol/drug use and conduct problems through physiological stress responses. This
question is important for prevention science because few interventions have been developed to offset the
effects of cultural stressors, and our results will provide essential information regarding whether such
interventions are needed – as well as the protective mechanisms on which such interventions should focus.
We propose a 3-year accelerated longitudinal cohort study with two cohorts, one beginning in the seventh
grade and one beginning in the ninth grade, to carry out the study aims and to test the study hypotheses. An
accelerated longitudinal design includes multiple age cohorts, where each cohort starts at a different age and
each is followed for the same amount of time. Such a design allows us to examine five years of development
through only three years of data collection. We will recruit and follow 300 Hispanic 7th and 9th graders in Los
Angeles and Miami-Dade counties. Adolescents will be followed for 3 years and assessed at both macro
(longer measures administered every 6 months) and micro (daily measurement bursts using shorter measures
and saliva sample collection for cortisol assays). We will examine the moderating effects of three evidence-
based protective mechanisms – family functioning, life skills, cultural assets, and ethnic socialization – on the
direct and mediated effects of cultural stress on physiological stress responses and on alcohol/drug use and
conduct problems. These moderation and moderated mediation analyses will indicate the specific mechanisms
that should be targeted within prevention programs. This information is critical to decreasing disparities in
conduct problems and alcohol/drug use among Hispanic adolescents.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10226613
- **Project number:** 1R01DA052079-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** SETH J. SCHWARTZ
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $724,333
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10226613

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10226613, Cultural Stress, Stress Response, and Substance Use among Hispanic Adolescents (1R01DA052079-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10226613. Licensed CC0.

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