NCJ Number
220238
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 177-190
Date Published
2007
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of ethnic identity and neighborhood risk on drug and sex attitudes and refusal effectiveness among early adolescent urban African-American females.
Abstract
Results indicate that ethnic identity and neighborhood risk were directly related to outcomes in the drug domain. Specifically, higher levels of neighborhood risk factors were associated with less disapproval of drug use. Girls with higher ethnic identity scores reported higher disapproval of drug use and reported less intention to use drugs in the future. There was a small moderating effect of ethnic identity on neighborhood risk and intention to use drugs. Youth with higher ethnic identity (compared to low ethnic identity) showed greater decreases in intention to use drugs as neighborhood risk increased. Ethnic identity was found to potentially protect youth from the potential negative impact of community risk factors, such as witnessing drug use and crime within the neighborhood. Ethnic identity also had a positive impact on sexual refusal effectiveness. Participants with higher ethnic identity reported higher sexual refusal effectiveness. For early adolescent African-American girls, ethnic identity may be an important contributor to healthy and safe sex and drug attitudes and behaviors particularly for girls who may reside in low resource neighborhoods. Few studies have examined attitudes and effectiveness beliefs in both the drug and sex domains and considered individual, family, as well as community-level influences on youth behavior. African-American early adolescent girls attending Boys and Girls Clubs within an urban metropolitan area in the southeastern United States were recruited to participate in a drug prevention intervention. One hundred and seventy-five girls from 13 Boys and Girls Club sites and between the ages of 10 and 14 participated in the study. Tables, references