ADOLESCENT AOD USE AMONG ASIAN GROUPS

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Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) proposes to conduct a two-year comparative, exploratory survey of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among 9th and 12th graders in five Asian American groups in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Asian Americans constitute the fastest- growing, most diverse populations in Southern California. Yet, research has focused almost exclusively on drinking among adult Chinese and Japanese males. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence calls into question the long-standing assumption that all Asian Americans, particularly youth, are at very low risk for ATOD abuse. Our proposed school-based survey has the following objectives. 1. To determine and map three domains of drug-related variables - use levels and behaviors, attitudes and norms, and consequences - among Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese 9th & 12 graders. 2. To explore within each group the psychosocial correlates of ATOD use that may explain variations in use behaviors and problems among individuals within each Asian group and demographic subcategories. Attention will be focused on socialization characteristics; psychological characteristics; family socioeconomic status and environmental influences; and cultural identity/accumulation factors. 3. To conduct comparative analyses between groups to determine significant variations and commonalities in the drug variables. 4. To assess the applicability to each group of two theories developed from studies of other minority populations: the Peer Cluster Theory and the Orthogonal Cultural Identification Theory. 5. To expand crosscultural research by comparing use-correlate findings, particularly relating to acculturation, with comparative data on Native Americans and Hispanics in the Western U.S. The NIDA-funded Tri-Ethnic Center will collaborate with SWRL on the data- analysis and cross-cultural comparisons of tasks 4 & 5. To facilitate this collaboration and comparisons, we will be using their American Drug and Alcohol Survey instrument. In analyzing the above data, a general goal will be to asses the prevention, intervention, and general policy implications of the findings to use as guidance for program and policy development. The proposed research will fill significant knowledge gaps and lay the needed foundations for further studies of each group and the development of explanatory models. The project also will add to the growing store of relatively comparable ethnic-minority survey-research data sets and contribute significantly to the understanding of the dynamics of adolescent drug abuse crossculturally.