# Drug use disparities among Hispanics: elucidating the complex interactions between socio-cultural, neurocognitive and drug use-related factors

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2021 · $151,748

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract: Hispanic adolescents are disproportionately affected by drug use and its
consequences. This is reflected in high rates of school dropouts, arrest for drug possession, alcohol, drug use
disorders, disability and drug related crash injuries and fatalities. Mounting evidence suggest that impaired
neurocognitive functioning, exposure to early, severe, or chronic social disadvantage, and stress related to
conflicting cultural practices, independently predict adverse drug use outcomes. Yet, studies employing an
integrated approach to explore how these factors interact to increase or decrease the risk of experiencing
adverse drug use consequences are limited. Therefore, the immediate and overarching goal of this K01
application is to receive intensive, supervised career-development training on the intersection between addiction
neuroscience and social and cross-cultural research applied to drug use research that will enable me to pursue
a line of independent research on drug use disparities. In this application, I propose to investigate how socio-
cultural, neurocognitive and drug use related factors interact to explain the adverse outcomes seen in the
Hispanic population. The specific aims of the proposed project include: 1) To determine whether neurocognitive
factors (e.g., decision-making, episodic memory), mediate the associations between socio-cultural factors (e.g.,
early, severe, or chronic socio-economic disadvantage, ethnic discrimination, acculturative stress, Hispanic
cultural values), and drug use outcomes (e.g. transition from use to drug use disorders, drug use trajectories,
driving under the influence of drugs - DIU); 2) To examine whether socio-cultural factors moderate the
associations between neurocognitive factors and drug use. These goals will be achieved by leveraging data,
participants, and resources from an ongoing longitudinal study (parent study) that assesses decision-making
and episodic memory in trajectories to cannabis addiction (R01DA031176), and interviewing a sub-sample of
young Hispanics participating in the parent study and their parents or legal guardians (n=200 dyads). The
proposed Mentored Research Scientist Development Award will build on my expertise in drug use epidemiology
with advanced training in: addiction neuroscience, social and cross-cultural research on drug use disparities,
interdisciplinary research on cognitive neuroscience and socio-cultural research, advanced statistical methods
for analyzing longitudinal data, and responsible conduct of research. Overseeing this training is my primary
mentor Dr. Raul Gonzalez, an expert in addiction neuroscience, and my co-mentor Dr. Mario De La Rosa, an
expert in cross-cultural research and drug use disparities. The proposed K01, which is responsive to two of the
two priority focus areas identified in the 2016-2020 NIDA Strategic Plan, will provide me with the resources,
training, mentoring and knowledge needed to establish myself as a scie...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10229417
- **Project number:** 5K01DA046715-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Catalina Lopez-Quintero
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $151,748
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10229417

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10229417, Drug use disparities among Hispanics: elucidating the complex interactions between socio-cultural, neurocognitive and drug use-related factors (5K01DA046715-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10229417. Licensed CC0.

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