Parental Monitoring, Peer Drug Involvement, and Marijuana Use Across Three Ethnicities

The purposes of the present study were to test differences in parental monitoring and marijuana use rates and relationships among constructs across three ethnicities, and to use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Van de Vijver and Leung's Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique to test for cultural equivalence and item bias in the measurement of these constructs. Participants included 7,500 Mexican American, African American, and non-Hispanic White 10th-12th graders. African American participants showed higher levels of parental monitoring, lower levels of marijuana use, and a stronger relationship between parental monitoring and peer influence. SEM results indicated lack of cultural equivalence for each latent factor. ANOVA results indicated item bias for specific items. Putative cultural differences in the relations between parental monitoring and peer influence, as well as potential sources of bias in measuring family, peer, and drug involvement factors among participants from different cultural groups are discussed.