Substance use as a robust correlate of school outcome measures for ethnically diverse adolescents of Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry.

Abstract

School psychologists are generally not provided with the knowledge and skills to address both educational and psychosocial issues of Asian American and Pacific Islander students. The present study is the first of its kind in examining 36 independent (i.e., demographic, social, cultural, psychological) variables in association with four school outcomes (i.e., grade point average, absences, suspensions, and school infractions) with a large sample of Caucasian, Filipino, Native Hawaiian, Japanese, mixed/non-Hawaiian, and "other" Hawai'i high school students (N = 2,833). Given the relatively unique sample in question and the sheer number of variables, an exploratory approach was utilized with the goal of determining the most robust independent variables, with the unique inclusion of Hawaiian cultural identification. A cross-validation technique was used, whereby stepwise regressions were performed for each of two cross-validation samples; only common variables were retained in a final stepwise model for each of the four school outcomes. The results

Longitudinal Dynamic Analyses of Depression and Academic Achievement in the Hawaiian High Schools Health Survey Using Contemporary Latent Variable Change Models

“…Given the general finding of lower educational achievement being associated with poorer psychological adjustment (e.g., Hishinuma, Foster et al, 2001), and given the differential academic achievement among racial and ethnic groups (e.g., African Americans with lower high school GPAs than Caucasians; Caucasians with lower high school GPAs than Asian-Pacific Islanders), this area of study is critical in understanding the well-being of ethnic minorities. In the context of the present study, Native Hawaiian adolescents tend to have lower levels of achievement than non-Hawaiians in Hawai‘i (e.g., Hishinuma, Foster et al, 2001; Hishinuma, Johnson et al, 2001; Hishinuma et al, 2006). …”

“…This measurement of academic achievement demonstrated high concurrent validity with actual cumulative GPA in a sub-study of the same persons ( r =.76; Hishinuma, Johnson et al, 2001) and construct validity with adjustment indicators, arrests/serious trouble with the law, and substance use (Hishinuma, Foster et al, 2001; Hishinuma et al, 2006). …”

“…A statistically significant and negative relationship of −.18 ( p < .05) was found between self-reported GPA and of the CESD (Hishinuma, Foster et al, 2001; Hishinuma et al, 2006). This negative association remained significant even when controlling for other demographic variables (i.e., ethnicity, gender, grade level, main wage earners’ educational attainment, main wage earners’ employment status) and academic measures (i.e., actual cumulative GPA, absolute difference between self-reported GPA and cumulative GPA).…”

“…This negative relationship found among GPA and CESD scores was particularly salient for children and adolescents of ethnic minority ancestry (Hishinuma, Foster et al, 2001; Hishinuma et al, 2006). Given the general finding of lower educational achievement being associated with poorer psychological adjustment (e.g., Hishinuma, Foster et al, 2001), and given the differential academic achievement among racial and ethnic groups (e.g., African Americans with lower high school GPAs than Caucasians; Caucasians with lower high school GPAs than Asian-Pacific Islanders), this area of study is critical in understanding the well-being of ethnic minorities.…”

The Social Contexts of Drug Offers and Their Relationship to Drug Use of Rural Hawaiian Youths

“…For example, it has been related to unsafe sexual practices (Ramisetty-Mikler et al, 2004), suicidal behavior (Else, Andrade, & Nahulu, 2007; Yuen, Nahulu, Hishinuma, & Miyamoto, 2000), poorer academic achievement (Hishinuma et al, 2006), and increases in school absences, suspensions, and infractions (Hishinuma et al, 2006) with this youth population. Further, compared with other ethnic groups, Wong et al (2004) found that Hawaiian youth reported the highest need for drug and alcohol treatment, particularly treatment related to alcohol and marijuana use.…”