Trajectories of Substance Use Among Young American Indian Adolescents: Patterns and Predictors

• NCJ Number: 245780
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 43 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2014 Pages: 437-453
• Author(s): Nancy Rumbaugh Whitesell; Nancy L. Asdigian; Carol E. Kaufman; Cecelia Big Crow; Carly Shangreau; Ellen M. Keane; Alicia C. Mousseau; Christina M. Mitchell
• Date Published: March 2014
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined early substance use among American Indians youth compared to the rest of the United States.

Abstract

Substance use often begins earlier among American Indians compared to the rest of the United States, a troubling reality that puts Native youth at risk for escalating and problematic use. One needs to understand more fully patterns of emergent substance use among young American Indian adolescents, risk factors associated with escalating use trajectories, and protective factors that can be parlayed into robust prevention strategies. The authors used growth mixture modeling with longitudinal data from middle-school students on a Northern Plains reservation (Wave 1 N = 381, M age at baseline = 12.77, 45.6 percent female) to identify subgroups exhibiting different trajectories of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. The authors explored how both risk (e.g., exposure to stressful events, deviant peers) and protective (e.g., positive parent-child relationships, cultural identity) factors were related to these trajectories. For all substances, most youth showed trajectories characterized by low rates of substance use (nonuser classes), but many also showed patterns characterized by high and/or escalating use. Across substances, exposure to stress, early puberty, and deviant peer relationships were associated with the more problematic patterns, while strong relationships with parents and prosocial peers were associated with nonuser classes. The measures of emergent cultural identity were generally unrelated to substance use trajectory classes among these young adolescents. The findings point to the importance of early substance use prevention programs for American Indian youth that attenuate the impact of exposure to stressful events, redirect peer relationships, and foster positive parent influences. They also point to the need to explore more fully how cultural influences can be captured. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.