Linguistic acculturation associated with higher marijuana and polydrug useamong Hispanic adolescents

Hispanic sixth and seventh graders in 22 New York City middle schools (mean age: 12.66 years) completed self-report questionnaires with items related to drug use (cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana) use and linguis tic acculturation at two assessments (N = 1299 at baseline; N = 1038 at 1-y ear follow-up). Adolescents who spoke English with their parents smoked mar ijuana more frequently than those who spoke Spanish with their parents at b oth surveys. By the 1-year follow-up, students who spoke English with their parents and bilingual students who spoke English and Spanish with their pa rents engaged in greater polydrug use than those who spoke Spanish with the ir parents.