American Indian Adolescent Drug Use and Socialization Characteristics: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

• NCJ Number: 157842
• Journal: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1993) Pages: 53-70
• Author(s): R C Swaim; E R Oetting; P J Thurman; F Beauvais; R W Edwards
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): P50-DA07074; R01-DA03371; R01-AA08302
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services; National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

A path model testing the relationships among adolescent drug use and the socialization variables of family strength, religious identification, school adjustment, family sanctions against drug use, and peer associations was tested in a group of American Indian youths.

Abstract

With two important exceptions, the results replicated earlier research in white youths revealing that peer drug associations mediate the influence of the other factors and that with minor exceptions peers are likely to be the dominating influence in juvenile drug abuse. In the current research, peer drug associations, although still dominant, were not as highly correlated with drug use for Indian youths, and family sanctions against drugs had a direct influence on drug use in addition to an indirect influence. Differences in family dynamics among American Indian youths may account for the findings; they may associate more with and learn about drug use from same-aged siblings and other relatives in the extended family, and they may have a greater number of adult family figures to apply sanctions against drug use. Figures and 56 references (Author abstract modified)