Abstract
Ethnic identity is an important buffer against drug use among minority youth. However, limited work has examined pathways through which ethnic identity mitigates risk. School-aged youth (N = 34,708; 52 % female) of diverse backgrounds (i.e., African American (n = 5333), Asian (n = 392), Hispanic (n = 662), Multiracial (n = 2129), Native American (n = 474), and White (n = 25718) in grades 4–12 provided data on ethnic identity, drug attitudes, and drug use. After controlling for gender and grade, higher ethnic identity was associated with lower past month drug use for African American, Hispanic, and Multiracial youth. Conversely, high ethnic identity was associated with increased risk for White youth. An indirect pathway between ethnic identity, drug attitudes, and drug use was also found for African American, Hispanic, and Asian youth. Among White youth the path model was also significant, but in the opposite direction. These findings confirm the importance of ethnic identity for most minority youth. Further research is needed to better understand the association between ethnic identity and drug use for Multiracial and Hispanic youth, best ways to facilitate healthy ethnic identity development for minority youth, and how to moderate the risk of identity development for White youth.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2017
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0605-0
Funding Information
This research was supported by NIH award KL2TR001106 to A. Shekhar and Tamika Zapolski and by NIH award DA05312 to Sycarah Fisher. Writing of the manuscript was supported by NIH/NIDA award R25DA035163 to Tamika Zapolski.
Repository Citation
Zapolski, Tamika C. B.; Fisher, Sycarah; Banks, Devin E.; Hensel, Devon J.; and Barnes-Najor, Jessica, "Examining the Protective Effect of Ethnic Identity on Drug Attitudes and Use Among a Diverse Youth Population" (2017). Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications. 28.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_facpub/28
Included in
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Journal of Youth and Adolescence, v. 46, issue 8, p. 1702-1715.
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
The copyright holder has granted the permission for posting the article here.
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0605-0.