A Review of the Literature on Native Hawaiian Youth and Drug Use: Implications for Research and Practice

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive review of the recent literature on Native Hawaiian youth and substance use. Eight-hundred and twelve potential articles pertaining to Native Hawaiian youth and substance use published between 1995 to May 2009 were identified through an exhaustive literature search. The total number of articles was reduced to 32 articles, which were systematically coded and content analyzed. The findings indicated that the majority of studies focused on epidemiology, with relatively few of them focused on causal factors/etiology and systematic program development or evaluation. Gender differences in drug use were highlighted in several studies. Implications for culturally tailored interventions and future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• culture
• drug use
• Hawaiian
• literature review
• youth

This study was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (K01 DA019884) and was completed for partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master in Social Work program at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Asian Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center and Dr. Susana Helm in the completion of this study.

Notes

Note. Ethnic groups in study: NH = Native Hawaiian; PNH = Part Native Hawaiian; NHOPI = Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; NNH = Non-Native Hawaiian; MNNH = Mixed non-Native Hawaiian; API = Asian/Pacific Islander; CAU = Caucasian; EA = Euro-American; AI = American Indian; JPN = Japanese; FIL = Filipino; AFR = African American; KOR = Korean; POR = Portuguese; CHN = Chinese; TON = Tongan; PUR = Puerto Rican; SAM = Samoan; VIT = Vietnamese; NAA = Native American/Alaskan; MFIL = Mixed Filipino; HIS = Hispanic; OKN = Okinawan; NA = Native American; NAK = Native Alaskan.