CULTURAL IDENTIFICATION AND SUBSTANCE USE IN NORTH-AMERICA - AN ANNOTATED-BIBLIOGRAPHY

Level of identification with one's culture has long been thought to be a predictor of substance use among ethnic minority populations. Howev er, cultural identification is a complex construct that has been diffi cult to capture in a coherent theoretical way. Additionally, the vario us theoretical approaches have led to numerous and divergent methods o f measurement. Although measurement is becoming more sophisticated, th e evidence for a link between cultural identification and drug use rem ains elusive. There is evidence that immigrants to a new culture do ch ange their pattern of substance use to match that of the host culture, but the mechanism of that change is not well understood. That culture impacts behavior is without question although how culture operates sp ecifically with respect to substance use will require further effort.