Alcohol Use Severity and Depressive Symptoms among Late Adolescent Hispanics: Testing Associations of Acculturation and Enculturation in a Bicultural Transaction Model

Research has indicated that Hispanics, compared to non-Hispanic Whites, have higher rates of alcohol risk behavior and depressive symptoms during late adolescence. The purpose of this study was to test a bicultural transaction model composed of two enthnocultural orientations (acculturation and enculturation); and transactions with both the U.S. culture (perceived ethnic discrimination) and Hispanic culture (perceived intragroup marginalization) to predict alcohol use severity and depressive symptoms. A path analysis was conducted on a sample of 129 (men = 39, women = 90) late adolescent Hispanics (ages 18 to 21) enrolled in college. Results from a path analysis indicated that the model accounted for 18.2% of the variance in alcohol use severity and 24.3% of the variance in depressive symptoms. None of the acculturation or enculturation domains had statistically significant direct effects with alcohol use severity or depressive symptoms. However, higher reports of ethnic discriminatio