Community Risk and Resiliency Factors Related to Drug Use of Rural Native Hawaiian Youth: An Exploratory Study

• NCJ Number: 227692
• Journal: Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: April-June 2009 Pages: 163-177
• Author(s): Scott K. Okamoto; Susana Helm; Ka'ohinani Po'a-Kekuawela; Coralee I. H. Chin; La Risa H. Nebre
• Date Published: June 2009
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): K01 DA019884
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the risk and resiliency factors related to drug use of Native Hawaiian youth residing in rural communities.

Abstract

The findings of the study indicated that youth were part of large extended networks of families and that these networks became a defining characteristic of the rural communities in the study. These familial networks functioned as sources of risk and protection related to drug use for youth participants. The study advances theories of risk and resiliency in several important ways. First, family and community risk and resilience were viewed as interconnected constructs for rural Hawaiian youth, intensifying both risk and protection for these youth. Second, the study contributes to the theoretical relationship between culture and health outcomes, which have historically yielded mixed findings. Youth drug use was an issue of importance for rural communities in Hawaii. Using focus groups, this study examined factors related to risk and resiliency of rural Native Hawaiian youth on the Big Island of Hawaii. Participants described the influence of their biological and ascribed family members on decisions to use or avoid drugs. The level of interconnectedness and collectivism among family members described by youth participants had been described as a cultural characteristic of Asian and Pacific Americans, including Native Hawaiians. References