The Effect of Neighborhood Context on the Drug Use of American Indian Youth of the Southwest

Abstract

SUMMARYThis study examined neighborhood effects on the drug use of American Indian youth of the Southwest. We compared these effects with American Indian and non-American Indian youth in order to examine the universality of neighborhood disorganization as a risk factor for drug use. Neighborhood level variables included unemployment, poverty, education, and violent crime rate. Results indicated that American Indian youth were not as adversely affected by these neighborhood factors. American Indian youth may possess cultural characteristics that protect them from the adverse effects of neighborhood disorganization, including close familial relationships and ethnic pride. Culturally competent practice with American Indian youth may best be implemented through the enhancement of relational and cultural strengths as described in the literature.

¿Cómo influye la desorganización familiar en el consumo de drogas de los hijos? Una revisión

“…One-parent families tend to have lower incomes than other types of family, and their greater economic deprivation makes parental supervision and support more difficult, thus increasing the probability of drug use (Hoffman & Johnson, & Johnson, & 1998); this, in turn, results in greater influence of the peer group and increased acceptance of deviant behaviour such as drinking and drug-taking (Yabiku, Dixon et al, 2007). Moreover, children who live in one-parent families are only exposed to the behaviour of one of the parents, whilst in families with both parents the behaviour of one of them may be magnified or offset by that of the other (Otten et al, 2007).…”

“…En esta revisión, y basándonos en todo lo anterior, entenderemos por desorganización familiar a aquellas familias en las que alguno de los padres presente una psicopatología o enfermedad mental (Caton et al, 1994;Coulter, 1948;Geismar, Lasorte y Ayres, 1962;Gonzá-lez, 2000;Herrera y Avilés, 2000;Tyler, 2006), haya un solo padre (familias monoparentales) debido al divorcio o muerte u otras circunstancias de alguno de los padres (Carlson et al, 2009;Carman, 1981;Coulter, 1948;Geismar et al, 1962;González, 2000;Guilbert y Torres, 2001;Herrera y Avilés, 2000;Komarovsky y Willard, 1945;Locke, 1940;Sprey, 1966;Yabiku, Dixon et al, 2007;Zucker et al, 1997) o que los padres sean consumidores de sustancias (Caton et al, 1994;Coulter, 1948;Herrera y Avilés, 2000;Tyler, 2006).…”

“…Even in the studies Las familias monoparentales tienden a tener menores ingresos que otros tipos de familias y una mayor deprivación económica hace que la supervisión y el apoyo parental sean más difíciles, incrementando así la probabilidad de consumo de drogas (Hoffman y Johnson, 1998), lo que resulta en un incremento de la influencia del grupo de iguales y en la aceptación de las conductas desviadas como el consumo de alcohol o drogas (Yabiku, Dixon et al, 2007). Además, los hijos que viven en familias monoparentales sólo están expuestos a la conducta de uno de los padres, mientras que en las familias con ambos padres la conducta de uno de ellos podría ser magnificada o amortiguada por la conducta del otro (Otten et al, 2007).…”

“…For Hussong and Chassin (2002), family disorganization depended on the extent to which families did or did not follow regular timetables and routines and had difficulties for making plans due to the interference of unexpected events, and their members were able to keep promises to one another. Tyler (2006) understood family disorganization as the presence of substance abuse in the parents or mental health problems, and Yabiku, Dixon, Okamoto, Marsiglia and Kulis (2007) considered there to be social disorganization in the family when only one of the parents was present.…”

Multilevel context of depression in two American Indian tribes.

“…Multilevel investigations have shown depressive symptoms were related to median neighborhood income and residential mobility (Goldsmith, Holzer, & Manderscheid, 1998; Silver, Mulvey, & Swanson, 2002); neighborhood poverty (Ross, 2000); and racial and ethnic factors (Wight, Aneshensel, Botticello, & Sepulveda, 2005). In one of the rare multilevel analyses including American Indian samples, drug use of American Indian youth of an urban area of the Southwest found to be less affected by neighborhood characteristics compared to that of their non-American Indian counterparts (Yabiku, Rayle, Okamoto, Marsiglia, & Kulis, 2007). All of these studies have used urban samples or national or regional samples to assess contextual effects.…”