ABSTRACT
This policy brief reports the results of a study that examined how policy makers acquire information about long-term care (LTC) and why research findings in the field often don't filter through to them. It describes the "brokers" that provide LTC research information to policy makers and outlines what can be done to make certain such information reaches policy makers and is suited to their needs. It concludes by recommending that more effort be put into disseminating LTC research information, both to communicate more effectively within the resource constraints that currently exist and to encourage increased investment in research brokering activities for the future.
Subject(s)
Communication , Long-Term Care , Policy Making , Research Personnel , Health Policy , Health Services Research , Humans , Information Management , Interprofessional Relations , United StatesABSTRACT
Correlational and net regression techniques were used to examine the commonalities and differences in risks for later drug use and delinquency among African American and Puerto Rican adolescents. Eight-eight percent of the risks were significantly related to both problem behaviors. Within the personality, family, peer, ecology, and acculturation domains, many risks independently contributed to the prediction of each problem. Only three risks had a significantly stronger relationship to one of the problem behaviors than to the other. Finding so many common predictors supports a general dimension of problem behavior and highlights the psychosocial risks for drug use and delinquency. The commonalities suggest that interventions targeting these adolescent risks might reduce both problem behaviors.
Subject(s)
Black or African American/psychology , Hispanic or Latino/psychology , Juvenile Delinquency/ethnology , Substance-Related Disorders/ethnology , Acculturation , Adolescent , Adult , Family/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , New York City/epidemiology , Puerto Rico/ethnology , Regression Analysis , Risk Factors , Social EnvironmentABSTRACT
This study examined the multiple components of ethnic identity, the place of this ethnic identity set in the mediational model of the path to drug use predicted by our family interactional framework, and the protective role of each component of ethnic identity. The participants were 259 male and 368 female African Americans in late adolescence. They responded to a structured questionnaire in individual interviews. We found that few of the specific components of ethnic identity were significantly related as main effects to drug use. Most of the effect of ethnic identity was mediated by the family set of variables. Each of the components of ethnic identity offset risks or enhanced protective factors from the ecology, family, personality, and peer domains, thereby lessening drug use. This pattern highlights the importance of incorporating ethnic identity into drug prevention programs which serve African-American youth.
Subject(s)
Black or African American/psychology , Social Identification , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Family Relations , Female , Humans , Male , Personality Development , Socialization , Substance-Related Disorders/ethnologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the interrelationship of acculturation, family, personality, ecology, and peer domains measured in adolescence as they impact drug use 5 years later and to assess the role of family variables as buffers against personality risks. METHOD: Youths completed questionnaires in classrooms at T1 and were individually interviewed at T2 (mean age = 20 years). Data were analyzed separately for African-Americans and Puerto Ricans using correlations, hierarchical multiple regressions, and two-way interactions. RESULTS: Most results were similar for both ethnic groups. Eighty percent of the T1 variables significantly related to T2 stage of drug use. A mediational model of the path to drug use was supported. Acculturative influences were associated with family relations, which in turn were related to personality attributes. A reciprocal relationship emerged between the personality and peer domains in their impact on drug use. Family variables primarily enhanced the effect of protective personality traits on drug use. CONCLUSIONS: Stability of drug use alone cannot explain the relationship between the earlier domains and later drug use. Specific adolescent risks have long-lasting effects. The personality domain has a direct effect on later drug use despite a benign picture in the acculturation, family, and peer domains.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior , Black or African American/statistics & numerical data , Family Health/ethnology , Hispanic or Latino/statistics & numerical data , Substance-Related Disorders/ethnology , Acculturation , Adolescent , Adult , Black or African American/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Hispanic or Latino/psychology , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , New York City/epidemiology , Parent-Child Relations , Peer Group , Personality Development , Puerto Rico/ethnology , Regression Analysis , Risk Factors , Social Conformity , Urban HealthABSTRACT
This longitudinal study examined the interrelation of personality and peer factors on young adults' drug use and also the influence of the interaction of personality and peer factors on drug use. The sample of 756 males and females were interviewed four times between the M ages of 6 and 22. Personality attributes in childhood were related to peer factors in early adolescence which, in turn, were related to personality traits in later adolescence. These traits were linked with selection of peers and, ultimately, drug use in young adulthood. Additionally, the adolescent and young adult domains had direct effects on young adults' drug use. Significant interactions indicated that a few protective childhood personality traits buffer the risk of deviant peers in adolescence on young adults' drug use. More earlier protective characteristics from one domain enhanced the effect of later protective traits from the other domain.
