Substance use, generation and time in the United States: The modifying role of gender for immigrant urban adolescents

► Increased years in the US is associated with higher risk of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use among immigrant youth. ► The protective effect of foreign nativity on alcohol diminishes much more quickly than for tobacco or marijuana among immigrant youth. ► Compared to girls, immigrant boys show stronger effects of exposure to US norms with regard to tobacco use. ► The first four years in the US are crucial to the acquisition of risk behaviors such as substance use among urban immigrant youth.