Ecstasy Use and Associated Risk Factors Among Asian-American Youth: Findings From a National Survey

Abstract

This study examined ecstasy use and associated risk and protective factors among Asian American youth. Data from 996 Asian American adolescents and 1,108 Asian American young adults were used. Ecstasy use was relatively common among Asian American youth. Among adolescents, it was associated with older age, poor parent-child communication, having been approached by drug sellers, living in a metropolitan area, and positive attitudes toward substance use. Among Asian American young adults, it was associated with having been born in the United States, having been approached by drug sellers, criminal justice system involvement, and positive attitudes toward substance use. Implications for designing substance use prevention/intervention programs for this minority group are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescent
• Asian Americans
• risk factors
• ecstasy use

Acknowledgments

This article was supported by a grant to the first author from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA020733-02S1). The authors thank Cordelia Fuller for her assistance with the preparation of the literature review and with the editing of the manuscript.

Notes

SE = standard error; AOR = adjusted odds ratio; CI = confidence interval; MSA = metropolitan statistical area; 1 M = 1 million.

⁺p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

^a Results from multivariable logistic regression.

^b Data available only for the adolescent sample.

^c Continuous variable.

^d Because there were no adolescent ecstasy users in the “Not MSA” category, the “Not MSA” and “MSA <1 M” categories were combined to form the reference group for the logistic regression analysis of the adolescent data.