Drug Abuse and Identity in Mexican Americans: Theoretical and Empirical Considerations.

Proposes the construct of drug use identity and presents a four-stage model featuring this construct. The four stages are (1) identity as a casual user; (2) identity as a drug addict; (3) identity as a recovering addict during late treatment; and (4) ethnic pride, self-esteem, social role responsibility, and health motivation. (KS)