Association of Contextual Factors with Drug Use and Binge Drinking among White, Native American, and Mixed-Race Adolescents in the General Population

Posted in Articles, Health/Medicine/Genetics, Media Archive, Native Americans/First Nation, Social Work, United States on 2012-12-16 05:14Z by Steven

Association of Contextual Factors with Drug Use and Binge Drinking among White, Native American, and Mixed-Race Adolescents in the General Population

Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume 41, Issue 11 (November 2012)
pages 1426-1441
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-012-9789-0

Hsing-Jung Chen
Department of Social Work
Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan

Sundari Balan, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Psychiatry
Washington University in St. Louis

Rumi Kato Price, Research Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Washington University in St. Louis

Large-scale surveys have shown elevated risk for many indicators of substance abuse among Native American and Mixed-Race adolescents compared to other minority groups in the United States. This study examined underlying contextual factors associated with substance abuse among a nationally representative sample of White, Native American, and Mixed-Race adolescents 12–17 years of age, using combined datasets from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH 2006–2009, N = 46,675, 48.77% female). Native American adolescents displayed the highest rate of past-month binge drinking and past-year illicit drug use (14.06 and 30.91%, respectively). Results of a logistic regression that included seven predictors of social bonding, individual views of substance use, and delinquent peer affiliations showed that friendships with delinquent peers and negative views of substance use were associated significantly with both substance abuse outcomes among White and Mixed-Race adolescents and, to a lesser extent, Native American adolescents. The association of parental disapproval with binge drinking was stronger for White than for Native American adolescents. Greater attention to specific measures reflecting racial groups’ contextual and historical differences may be needed to delineate mechanisms that discourage substance abuse among at-risk minority adolescent populations.

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Multiple Identification and Risks: Examination of Peer Factors Across Multiracial and Single-Race Youth

Posted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, Social Work, United States on 2012-07-10 18:44Z by Steven

Multiple Identification and Risks: Examination of Peer Factors Across Multiracial and Single-Race Youth

Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume 41, Number 7 (July 2012)
pages 847-862
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-012-9750-2

Yoonsun Choi
The School of Social Service Administration
University of Chicago

Michael He
The School of Social Service Administration
University of Chicago

Todd I. Herrenkohl
Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work
University of Washington, Seattle

Richard F. Catalano
Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work
University of Washington, Seattle

John W. Toumbourou
School of Psychology
Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Multiracial youth are thought to be more vulnerable to peer-related risk factors than are single-race youth. However, there have been surprisingly few well-designed studies on this topic. This study empirically investigated the extent to which multiracial youth are at higher risk for peer influenced problem behavior. Data are from a representative and longitudinal sample of youth from Washington State (N = 1,760, mean age = 14.13, 50.9% girls). Of those in the sample, 225 youth self-identified as multiracial (12.8%), 1,259 as White (71.5%), 152 as Latino (8.6%), and 124 as Asian American (7.1%). Results show that multiracial youth have higher rates of violence and alcohol use than Whites and more marijuana use than Asian Americans. Higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage and single-parent family status partly explained the higher rates of problem behaviors among multiracial youth. Peer risk factors of substance-using or antisocial friends were higher for multiracial youth than Whites, even after socioeconomic variables were accounted for, demonstrating a higher rate of peer risks among multiracial youth. The number of substance-using friends was the most consistently significant correlate and predictor of problems and was highest among multiracial youth. However, interaction tests did not provide consistent evidence of a stronger influence of peer risks among multiracial youth. Findings underscore the importance of a differentiated understanding of vulnerability in order to better target prevention and intervention efforts as well as the need for further research that can help identify and explain the unique experiences and vulnerabilities of multiracial youth.

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Examining Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem Among Biracial and Monoracial Adolescents

Posted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, United States on 2010-03-21 01:02Z by Steven

Examining Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem Among Biracial and Monoracial Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume 33, Number 2 (April, 2004)
pages 123-132
Print ISSN: 0047-2891; Online ISSN: 1573-6601
DOI: 10.1023/B:JOYO.0000013424.93635.68

Jeana R. Bracey
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Mayra Y. Bámaca
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor
Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

The psychological well-being and ethnic identity of biracial adolescents are largely underrepresented topics in current scholarly literature, despite the growing population of biracial and multiracial individuals in the United States. This study examined self-esteem, ethnic identity, and the relationship between these constructs among biracial and monoracial adolescents (n = 3282). Using analysis of covariance, significant differences emerged between biracial and monoracial adolescents on both a measure of self-esteem and a measure of ethnic identity. Specifically, biracial adolescents showed significantly higher levels of self-esteem than their Asian counterparts, but significantly lower self-esteem than Black adolescents. Furthermore, biracial adolescents scored significantly higher than Whites on a measure of ethnic identity, but scored lower than their Black, Asian, and Latino peers on the same measure. Finally, correlational analyses revealed a significant and positive relationship between ethnic identity and self-esteem for all groups.

The number of interracial marriages in the United States, as well as the number of interracial individuals, has steadily increased since the 1967 Supreme Court repeal of laws barring interracial marriages (Root, 1992; Wardle, 1987). In response to a long-term debate over the addition of a multiracial category for the 2000 census (Rockquemore and Brunsma, 2002), a compromise was made that allowed respondents to select multiple racial categories, resulting in approximately 2% of the population self-identifying as multiracial (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Despite these figures, this segment of the population remains largely invisible in the area of scholarly research. Much of the literature on biracial or multiracial populations tends to be theoretical (Phinney, 1990), and the limited empirical work has been based largely on small clinical samples or samples recruited via snowball sampling techniques (Phinney and Alipuria, 1996).

Given the growing visibility of biracial families in society, it is critical to learn more about the developmental outcomes of adolescents within these families, specifically with regard to their psychological adjustment. Understanding the complexity and impact of diversity on adolescent development should be at the forefront of our priorities. Two interrelated psychological factors in need of more in-depth examination among biracial adolescents are ethnic identity and self-esteem. Despite the fact that self-esteem, as an evaluative measure of psychosocial adjustment, is linked to major mental health outcomes, researchers have not focused on examining the self-esteem of biracial adolescents…

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