Parental Support and Substance Use of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Youth: A Test of Stress-Buffering Effects

Introduction: Adolescence is a critical period for the formation of stress coping skills and these behaviors are influenced by parental factors (Bandura, 1969). Previous research suggests youth with lower parental support may have higher rates of substance use (Choquet et al., 2007, Kelly et al., 2011). We investigated how parental support and conflict interact with negative life events in relation to adolescent substance use as the outcome, and how these effects differ by ethnicity. We hypothesized that parental support will produce a buffering effect between negative life events and adolescent substance use, thereby reducing substance use rates.

Methods: The representative sample in this study consisted of 3,561 adolescents (M_age = 12.5, 52% female) from 10 public schools on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Ethnically, the sample was 34% Asian American (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), 8% Caucasian, 29% Filipino, 29% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 6% Other. Using multiple regression, we tested the interaction between parental emotional support (5-item scale) and negative life events (19-item checklist), and between parent-adolescent conflict (3-item scale) and negative life events, with substance use as the criterion. Gateway substance use (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use) was measured on a 7-point scale ranging from “Never Tried” to “Everyday Use”.

Results: For overall substance use, we found subgroup buffering effects (ps < .10 or lower) for parental support among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs), and Filipinos. We also found that parent-adolescent conflict had a significant effect on increasing the impact of life events on substance use among Filipinos and NHOPIs (ps < .0001). For NHOPIs, parental emotional support significantly reduced the impact of life stress on tobacco and marijuana use, while parent-adolescent conflict significantly increased the impact of life stress on the use of all substances. In contrast, both parental emotional support and conflict were not significantly related to substance use for Caucasian youth in the sample.

Conclusion: Consistent with prior research, our findings suggest that parental support buffers the effects of negative life events on adolescent substance use. Ethnic differences in the findings suggest the need for prevention interventions focused on NHOPI youth and their families. Specifically, the results suggest the need for culturally focused prevention programs that promote parental emotional support and reduce the impact of parent-adolescent conflict for NHOPI youth.