IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i2p470-d477173.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparison of Cut Points for Measuring Risk Factors for Adolescent Substance Use and Antisocial Behaviors in the U.S. and Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Eric C. Brown

    (Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA)

  • Pablo Montero-Zamora

    (Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA)

  • Francisco Cardozo-Macías

    (Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA)

  • María Fernanda Reyes-Rodríguez

    (School of Psychology, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá 110121, Colombia)

  • John S. Briney

    (Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA)

  • Juliana Mejía-Trujillo

    (Corporación Nuevos Rumbos, Bogotá 110111, Colombia)

  • Augusto Pérez-Gómez

    (Corporación Nuevos Rumbos, Bogotá 110111, Colombia)

Abstract

As the identification and targeting of salient risk factors for adolescent substance use become more widely used globally, an essential question arises as to whether U.S.-based cut points in the distributions of these risk factors that identify “high” risk can be used validly in other countries as well. This study examined proportions of youth at “high” risk using different empirically derived cut points in the distributions of 18 measured risk factors. Data were obtained from large-scale samples of adolescents in Colombia and the United States. Results indicated that significant ( p < 0.05) differences in the proportions of “high” risk youth were found in 38.9% of risk factors for 6th graders, 61.1% for 8th graders, and 66.6% for 10th graders. Colombian-based cut points for determining the proportion of Colombian youth at “high” risk were preferable to U.S.-based cut points in almost all comparisons that exhibited a significant difference. Our findings suggest that observed differences were related to the type of risk factor (e.g., drug specific vs. non-drug specific). Findings from this study demonstrate the need for collecting large-scale national data on risk factors for adolescent substance use and developing country-specific cut points based on the distributions of these measures to avoid misidentification of youth at “high” risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric C. Brown & Pablo Montero-Zamora & Francisco Cardozo-Macías & María Fernanda Reyes-Rodríguez & John S. Briney & Juliana Mejía-Trujillo & Augusto Pérez-Gómez, 2021. "A Comparison of Cut Points for Measuring Risk Factors for Adolescent Substance Use and Antisocial Behaviors in the U.S. and Colombia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:470-:d:477173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/470/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/470/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mihalic, Sharon F. & Elliott, Delbert S., 2015. "Evidence-based programs registry: Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 124-131.
    2. Feinberg, M.E., 2012. "Community epidemiology of risk and adolescent substance use: Practical questions for enhancing prevention," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(3), pages 457-468.
    3. Arthur, Michael W. & Briney, John S. & Hawkins, J. David & Abbott, Robert D. & Brooke-Weiss, Blair L. & Catalano, Richard F., 2007. "Measuring risk and protection in communities using the Communities That Care Youth Survey," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 197-211, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Spencer D. Li & Xiaohua Zhang & Wei Tang & Yiwei Xia, 2017. "Predictors and Implications of Synthetic Drug Use Among Adolescents in the Gambling Capital of China," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(4), pages 21582440177, October.
    2. Eric C. Brown & John W. Graham & J. David Hawkins & Michael W. Arthur & Megan M. Baldwin & Sabrina Oesterle & John S. Briney & Richard F. Catalano & Robert D. Abbott, 2009. "Design and Analysis of the Community Youth Development Study Longitudinal Cohort Sample," Evaluation Review, , vol. 33(4), pages 311-334, August.
    3. Zack, Melissa K. & Karre, Jennifer K. & Olson, Jonathan & Perkins, Daniel F., 2019. "Similarities and differences in program registers: A case study," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Agans, Jennifer P. & Maley, Mary & Rainone, Nicolette & Cope, Marie & Turner, Andrew & Eckenrode, John & Pillemer, Karl, 2020. "Evaluating the evidence for youth outcomes in 4-H: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Tamara M. Haegerich & Corinne David-Ferdon & Rita K. Noonan & Brian J. Manns & Holly C. Billie, 2017. "Technical Packages in Injury and Violence Prevention to Move Evidence Into Practice," Evaluation Review, , vol. 41(1), pages 78-108, February.
    6. Josipa Mihić & Martie Skinner & Miranda Novak & Martina Ferić & Valentina Kranželić, 2022. "The Importance of Family and School Protective Factors in Preventing the Risk Behaviors of Youth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Wu, Shiyou & Yan, Shi & Marsiglia, Flavio F. & Perron, Brian, 2020. "Patterns and social determinants of substance use among Arizona Youth: A latent class analysis approach," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    8. Axford, Nick & Morpeth, Louise & Bjornstad, Gretchen & Hobbs, Tim & Berry, Vashti, 2022. "“What works” registries of interventions to improve child and youth psychosocial outcomes: A critical appraisal," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Gunnar Bjørnebekk & Dagfinn Mørkrid Thøgersen, 2021. "Possible Interventions for Preventing the Development of Psychopathic Traits among Children and Adolescents?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, December.
    10. Henneberger, Angela K. & Mushonga, Dawnsha R., 2021. "Peer selection as a mechanism for preventing adolescent substance use: Current approaches and future directions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:470-:d:477173. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.