Substance Use and Dependence Among Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and Asian Ethnic Groups in the United States: Contrasting Multiple-Race and Single-Race Prevalence Rates From a National Survey

Abstract

The percentage of multiracial youth appears to be increasing in the United States. However, little has been disseminated about problem behaviors among multiracial Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and Asians on a national level. Using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the authors compared multiple-race Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and Asians, while disaggregating by ethnic subgroups, with single-race individuals within respective Asian ethnic subgroups and Caucasians for prevalence of alcohol/drug use and dependence. For multiple-race Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and Asians, high rates of alcohol dependence were observed compared with both single-race Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, and Asian subgroups and single-race Caucasians; for some multiracial Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and Asians, high rates of drug dependence were also observed.

KEYWORDS:

• alcohol
• dependence
• illicit drugs
• multiple race
• national survey

This work was supported by NIDA grants K08DA016314, K02DA00221 and R01DA020922.