This article examines racial differences in self-reported delinquency, school trouble, antisocial attitudes, and toughness and in teacher-rated aggressive and inattentive behaviors among fifth grade black, white, and Asian American subjects. Also examined are the relationships of these variables to substance initiation within each racial group. Controlling for socio-economic status, racial groups differed from one another in self-reported delinquency, school trouble and toughness, and in teacher-rated aggressiveness and inattention. Antisocial behavior and attitudes were stronger predictors of substance initiation for Asian American than for black and white children. For white children both self-reported and teacher-rated behavior were significantly related to substance initiation. For black children, only self-reported antisocial behavior, and for Asian American children only self-reported delinquent behavior and attitudes predicted substance initiation. Implications for prevention and research are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
JessorR. and JessorS. L., Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development: A Longitudinal Study of Youth, Academic Press, New York, 1977.
2.
KellamS. G. and BrownH., Social Adaptational and Psychological Antecedents of Adolescent Psychopathology Ten Years Later, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1982.
3.
JohnstonL. D.O'MalleyP. M., and EvelandL. K., Drugs and Delinquency: A Search for Causal Connections, in Longitudinal Research on Drug Use: Empirical Findings and Methodological Issues, KandelD. (ed.), Hemisphere, Washington, D.C., 1978.
4.
BarnesG. M. and WelteJ. W., Patterns and Predictors of Alcohol Use Among 7–12th Grade Students in New York State, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47, pp. 53–62, 1986.
5.
NewcombM. D. and BentlerP. M., Substance Use and Ethnicity: Differential Impact of Peer and Adult Models, Journal of Psychology, 120, pp. 83–95, 1986.
6.
ZabinL. S.HardyJ. B.SmithE. A., and HirschM. B., Substance Use and Its Relation to Sexual Activity among Inner-City Adolescents, Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 7, pp. 320–331, 1986.
7.
HarfordT. C., Drinking Patterns among Black and Nonblack Adolescents: Results of a National Survey, in Prevention of Black Alcoholism Issues and Strategies, WrightR. and WattsT. D. (eds.), Charles C. Thomas, Illinois, pp. 122–139, 1985.
8.
ByramO. W. and FlyJ. W., Family Structure, Race, and Adolescents' Alcohol Use: A Research Note, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 10, pp. 467–478, 1984.
9.
BachmanJ. G.JohnstonL. D., and O'MalleyM.P.. Smoking, Drinking, and Drug Use among American High School Students: Correlates and Trends, 1975–1979, American Journal of Public Health, 71, pp. 59–69, 1981.
10.
KandelD. B.Convergences in Prospective Longitudinal Surveys of Drug Use in Normal Populations, Paper presented at meetings of the Society for Life History Research in Psychopathology, Fort Worth, Texas, October 1976.
11.
DemboR.BlountW. R.SchmeidlerJ., and BurgosW., Perceived Environmental Drug Use Risk and the Correlates of Early Drug Use or Nonuse among Inner-City Youths: The Motivated Actor, International Journal of the Addictions, 21, pp. 977–1000, 1986.
12.
MalinH.CoakleyJ.KaelberL.MunchN., and HollandW., An Epidemiologic Perspective on Alcohol Use and Abuse in the United States, in Alcohol Consumption and Related Problems, (Alcohol and Health Monograph No.1), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland, 1984.
13.
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, ADAMHA, Rockville, Maryland, 1983.
14.
KlatskyA. F.SiegelaubA. B.LandyC., and FriedmanG. D., Racial Patterns of Alcoholic Beverage Use, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 7 pp. 372–377, 1983.
15.
TrimbleJ. E.PadillaA. M., and BellC. S., Drug Abuse Among Ethnic Minorities, (DHHS Publication No. ADM 87-1474), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1987.
16.
MurrayD. M.PerryC. L.O'ConnellC., and SchmidL., Seventh-Grade Cigarette, Alcohol, and Marijuana Use: Distribution in a North Central U.S. Metropolitan Population, International Journal of the Addictions, 22, pp. 357–376, 1987.
17.
NewcombM. D.MaddahianE.SkagerR., and BentlerP. M., Substance Abuse and Psychosocial Risk Factors Among Teenagers: Associations with Sex, Age, Ethnicity, and Type of School, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 13, pp. 413–433, 1987.
18.
WelteJ. W. and BarnesG. M., Alcohol Use among Adolescent Minority Groups, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, pp. 329–336, 1987.
19.
GillmoreM. R.CatalanoR. F.MorrisonD. M.WellsE. A.IritaniB., and HawkinsJ. D., Racial Differences in Acceptability and Availability of Drugs and Early Initiation of Substance Use, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 16: 3&4, pp. 185–206, 1990.
20.
HawkinsJ. D.LishnerD. M.CatalanoR. F., and HowardM. O., Childhood Predictors of Adolescent Substance Abuse: Toward an Empirically Grounded Theory, Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 8, pp. 11–48, 1986.
21.
KandelD. B., Convergences in Prospective Longitudinal Surveys of Drug Use in Normal Populations, in Longitudinal Research on Drug Use: Empirical Findings and Methodological Issues, KandelD. B. (ed.), Hemisphere, Washington, D.C., pp. 3–38, 1987.
22.
JessorR. and JessorS. L., Theory Testing in Longitudinal Research on Marijuana Use, in Longitudinal Research on Drug Use: Empirical Findings and Methodological Issues, KandelD., (ed.), Hemisphere, Washington, D.C., 1978.
23.
LoeberR., Patterns of Development of Antisocial Child Behavior, Annals of Child Development, 2, pp. 77–115, 1985.
24.
BallJ. C.SchafferJ. W., and NurcoD. N., Day to Day Criminality of Heroin Addicts in Baltimore: A Study in the Continuity of Offense Rates, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 12, pp. 119–142, 1983.
25.
ElliotD. S.HuizingaD., and AgetonS. S., Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use, Sage, Beverly Hills, 1985.
26.
GittlemanR.MannuzzaS.ShenkerR., and BonaguraN., Hyperactive Boys Almost Grown, Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, pp. 937–947, 1985.
27.
LoneyJ.KramerJ., and MilchR., The Hyperactive Child Grows Up: Predictors of Symptoms, Delinquency, and Achievement at Follow-Up, in Psychosocial Aspects of Drug Treatment for Hyperactivity, GadowK. and LoneyJ. (eds.), Westview Press, Colorado, pp. 381–415, 1981.
28.
LernerJ. V. and VicaryJ. R., Difficult Temperament and Drug Use: Analyses from the New York Longitudinal Study, Journal of Drug Education, 14, pp. 1–7, 1984.
29.
HolmbergM. B., Longitudinal Studies of Drug Abuse in a Fifteen-Year-Old Population, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 16, pp. 129–136, 1985.
30.
SmithG. M. and FoggC. P., Psychological Predictors of Early Use, Late Use and Non-Use of Marijuana among Teenage Students, in Longitudinal Research on Drug Use: Empirical Findings and Methodological Issues, KandelD. B., (ed.), Hemisphere, Washington, D.C., 1978.
31.
MaddahianE.NewcombM. D., and BentlerP. M., Adolescent Drug Abuse and Intention to Use Drugs: Concurrent and Longitudinal Analyses of Four Ethnic Groups, Addictive Behaviors, 13, pp. 191–195, 1988.
32.
FlemingJ. P.KellamS. G., and BrownC. H., Early Predictors of Age at First Use of Alcohol, Marijuana, and Cigarettes, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 9, pp. 285–303, 1982.
33.
ElliotD. S. and HuizingaD., The Relationship Between Delinquent Behavior and ADM Problems, Paper presented at the ADAMHA/OJJDP State-of-the-Art Research Conference on Juvenile Offenders with Serious Drug, Alcohol, and Mental Health Problems, Washington, D.C., April 1984.
34.
KaplanH. B.MartinS. S., and RobbinsC., Pathways to Adolescent Drug Use: Self-Derogation, Peer Influence, Weakening of Social Controls, and Early Substance Use, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 25, pp. 270–289, 1984.
35.
KandelD., Stages in Adolescent Involvement in Drug Use, Science, 190, pp. 912–914, 1975.
36.
KandelD. and FaustR., Sequence and Stages in Patterns of Adolescent Drug Use, Archives of General Psychiatry, 32, pp. 923–932, 1975.
37.
CollinsL. and CliffN., Dynamic Constructs and Measurement of Individual Change, Unpublished manuscript, University of Southern California, 1987.
38.
AchenbachT. and EdelbrockC., Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 1983.
39.
HinshawS. P., On the Distinction between Attentional Deficits/Hyperactivity and Conduct Problems/Aggression in Child Psychopathology, Psychological Bulletin, 101, pp. 443–463, 1987.
40.
HawkinsJ. D.JensonJ. M.CatalanoR. F., and LishnerD. M., Delinquency and Drug Abuse: Implications for Social Services, Social Service Review, 62, pp. 258–284, 1988.
