Substance Use Among Foreign-Born Youths in the United States: Does the Length of Residence Matter?

The prevention of substance use is a critical component of health promotion among youths. Of the 72.3 million youths under 18 years of age in the United States in 2000, 2.8 million were foreign-born.1 Research has suggested that foreign-born youths experience increasing risk of substance use as they become assimilated into US society (i.e., become acculturated).2,3 This study provides the first national estimates of the prevalence of substance use among foreign-born youths aged 12 to 17 years and explores the association between acculturation, defined as the length of residence in the United States, and substance use.