Alcohol, Tobacco, Other Drug Use, and Violent Behavior Among Native Hawaiians: Ethnic Pride and Resilience

The present study includes data from a sample of 88 Native Hawaiians living in a rural community on an outer island. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use, and violent behavior were examined, including age at first experience, lifetime and 30-day frequency of experience, and interference related to substance use, along with other resilience indicators such as self-reported health, happiness, and ethnic identity. The data suggested that age at first use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs appeared to occur within the same period of time, at approximately age 16. With respect to violent behavior, educational attainment was higher for individuals whose age at first victimization was later. Two relationships were found between ATOD use and violent behavior. First, the data suggest that the age at first use of alcohol was significantly correlated with lifetime frequency of violence exposure including witnessing, perpetrating, and being a victim of violence. Second, age at first victimization was correlated with current marijuana use, while age at first perpetration of violence was correlated with current crystal methamphetamine use. Lastly, individuals reporting very strong ethnic pride had significantly fewer lifetime instances of witnessing, perpetrating, and being the victim of violence. Thirty-day frequencies of perpetrating and being the victim of violence were also significantly different between respondents who reported very strong ethnic pride and those who reported being less proud, suggesting that ethnic pride is an important protective factor against experiencing violent behavior and may encourage resilience in this group.