Adolescent self-reports of family connectedness, educational commitment, and education-related risktaking behavior were examined from a sample of over 6,000 public school students, with a focus on American Indians. Findings indicate that low family connectedness is associated with decreased educational commitment and an increased risk of absenteeism, substance use before and during school hours, and the purchase of alcohol or drugs on campus. American Indian youth report lower levels of connectedness to family and poorer educational performance than African American and Caucasian peers and engage in higher rates of risk taking. American Indian adolescents residing outside of the reservation may be vulnerable to increased familial stress and encounter cultural conflicts in mainstream educational settings. ver the past 3 decades, American Indians have been 0 progressively moving off reservation lands. As a result, over 70% of American Indians live in non-Indian communities. Movement from reservation to nonreservation settings can attenuate family relationships and increase the likelihood of risk-taking behaviors that endanger health and well-being. Because educational behaviors and attitudes may be the cause or result of other stresses in a student's life. offreservation Native adolescents may be even more vulnerable to educational problems than on-reservation peers.In this study, we examined the relationship between family connectedness, educational commitment, and educationrelated risk taking in adolescent American Indians and their African American and Caucasian peers. The existing literature on these areas is diverse in theory, method, and population studied, but several common criticisms can be made ahout the literature as a whole. Most of the studies focusing on American Indians use small samples from one tribal group that may not make findings generalizable to other tribes or native groups. Often, comparison groups are not used. making it impossihle to put findings into ;I larger context. On the other hand, studies on randomly selected samples from the general population rarely have enough American Indian participants to make the findings attributed to them reliable. For our purposes, most relevant studies focus on one or two key areas of the family-education-risk-taking configuration; few address all three issues. We examine each thematic area separately and then review their known interrelationships in American Indian populations.
The present study assesses the value of educational risk factors as indicators of other risk behaviour in the adolescent age group. The authors analyzed anonymous questionnaire data from 6224 school-based adolescents collected in a Midwest state in the US in 1989. Seven behaviours were labeled 'educational risks' impacting on students' classroom behaviour and/or performance (that is skipping school, alcohol or marijuana use during school hours, purchasing alcohol or drugs on campus). The statistical analyses examined the relationship between educational risks and health risks such as delinquency and sexual activity. The findings suggest that health risk exposure increases with increased educational risk. In addition, educational risk behaviours are a significant predictor of experience of other health risk behaviours when grade level, gender, ethnicity, and average grades are held constant. An important 'window of opportunity' may exist in the school setting facilitating early identification and intervention with at risk youth.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.