The National Center on Indigenous Hawaiian Behavioral Health study of prevalence of psychiatric disorders in native Hawaiian adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence rates of disorders among a community-based sample of Hawaiian youths were determined and compared to previously published epidemiological studies. METHOD: Using a two-phase design, 7,317 adolescents were surveyed (60% participation rate), from which 619 were selected in a modified random sample during the 1992-1993 to 1995-1996 school years: 590 selected randomly and 29 at risk (i.e., Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression score of >or=35 and suicidal risk) from grades 9-12. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Version 2.3, was used to determine DSM-III-R diagnoses. Prevalence rates, weighted for ethnicity, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scores, and suicide attempts, were calculated for any diagnosis and various disorders. Meta-analyses compared the Hawai'i sample to four community-based studies (randomly selected youths from community populations) and two high-risk studies (homeless, low-income, or high unemployment communities). RESULTS: Hawaiian females had the highest rate for any diagnosis (37.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 28.4%-48.0%) and non-Hawaiian males had the lowest rate (19.6%; 95% CI 14.8%-25.5%). Hawaiian males (26.8%; 95% CI 18.2%-37.5%) and non-Hawaiian females (27.9%; 95% CI 22.2%-34.4%) had intermediate and comparable rates. Overall, Hawaiians had significantly higher rates (32.7%; 95% CI 26.1%-40.1%) than non-Hawaiians (23.7%; 95% CI 19.9%-28.0%) when controlling for gender, and girls had significantly higher rates (30.8%; 95% CI 25.8%-36.3%) than boys (21.1%; 95% CI 16.8%-26.1%) when controlling for ethnicity. These findings were primarily the result of the significant differences in rates regarding anxiety disorders. Meta-analyses showed the Hawaiian youth rate for any diagnosis was comparable to high-risk studies and nearly three times higher than the community studies. CONCLUSIONS: Hawaiian youths, especially females, are at high risk. Research on the sociocultural factors that underpin both the genesis of and protection from psychopathology is imperative for Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian mixed-ethnicity youths.

Prevalence and correlates of misconduct among ethnically diverse adolescents of Native Hawaiian/ part-Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian ancestry.

BACKGROUND: Research on the prevalence and correlates of adolescent misconduct, arrests, and juvenile delinquency has been greatly neglected for the ethnically diverse adolescent groups in Hawai'i (i.e. Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders). AIMS: The aims of the present study are three-fold: (1) to determine whether there are differential rates of adolescent misconduct based on ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic (SES) factors; (2) on an exploratory basis, to ascertain the demographic, social-cultural, psychological-psychiatric, and school-related correlates of misconduct, with some focus on cultural identification; and (3) to derive a parsimonious model of the correlates for an ethnically diverse group of adolescents by disentangling cultural identification from other variables including ethnicity. METHODS: Data were analyzed from the Native Hawaiian Mental Health Research Development Program, consisting of 2,732 Asian/Pacific Islander youths. Misconduct was operationally defined as 'was arrested or got in serious trouble with the law' within the past six months via adolescent self-report. Of added importance were the inclusion of a valid measure of Hawaiian cultural identification and actual school data. RESULTS: Significantly higher rates were obtained for Native Hawaiians, males, and adolescents whose main wage earners' educational attainment was at the high school level or less. Absences may be a more important marker for females than males in the prediction of arrests and serious trouble with the law. The most parsimonious model of self-reported arrests/serious trouble with the law consisted of four variables in the following order of importance: substance use, actual grade-point average, aggressive symptoms, and gender. CONCLUSION: This is one of the first major studies to examine the prevalence and risk-protective factors of misconduct for adolescents of Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry, and the first to include a valid measure of cultural identification and actual school data. The findings indicated that gender-specific prevention and intervention programs are needed. However, the issues are also complex whereby the use of substances, school performance, and aggression must be taken into account in deriving successful programs. The lack of sustained association between culturally based factors (e.g., ethnicity, Hawaiian cultural identification) and misconduct in the final parsimonious model suggested that the culturally based variables are not direct causes of misconduct, but rather correlates of misconduct that are over-shadowed by more substantive factors, such as substance use and academic performance, the latter being variables that must be addressed for youths across the United States. The present results reaffirmed the common correlates of misconduct across different ethnic groups. Further research is needed in the causal relationships among these important associations with misconduct.

Socioeconomic status does not moderate the familiality of cognitive abilities in the Hawaii family study of cognition.

Data from 949 families of Caucasian and 400 families of Japanese ancestry who took part in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition were used to ascertain the associations of parental cognitive ability, parental education and paternal occupation with offspring cognitive ability. In particular, analyses were focused on testing the possible moderating effects of parental socioeconomic status on the familial transmission of cognitive abilities. Parental cognitive ability was substantially associated and parental education and paternal occupation only trivially associated with offspring performance. In contrast to the findings of Turkheimer et al. (2003), there was no evidence in these data that familiality for cognitive abilities was lower in the lower as opposed to upper levels of socioeconomic status. These results were consistent across measures, ethnicity and sex of offspring.

Prevalence and Correlates of Misconduct Among Ethnically Diverse Adolescents of Native Hawaiian/Part-Hawaiian and Non-Hawaiian Ancestry.

BACKGROUND: Research on the prevalence and correlates of adolescent misconduct, arrests, and juvenile delinquency has been greatly neglected for the ethnically diverse adolescent groups in Hawai'i (i.e. Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders). AIMS: The aims of the present study are three-fold: (1) to determine whether there are differential rates of adolescent misconduct based on ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic (SES) factors; (2) on an exploratory basis, to ascertain the demographic, social-cultural, psychological-psychiatric, and school-related correlates of misconduct, with some focus on cultural identification; and (3) to derive a parsimonious model of the correlates for an ethnically diverse group of adolescents by disentangling cultural identification from other variables including ethnicity. METHODS: Data were analyzed from the Native Hawaiian Mental Health Research Development Program, consisting of 2,732 Asian/Pacific Islander youths. Misconduct was operationally defined as 'was arrested or got in serious trouble with the law' within the past six months via adolescent self-report. Of added importance were the inclusion of a valid measure of Hawaiian cultural identification and actual school data. RESULTS: Significantly higher rates were obtained for Native Hawaiians, males, and adolescents whose main wage earners' educational attainment was at the high school level or less. Absences may be a more important marker for females than males in the prediction of arrests and serious trouble with the law. The most parsimonious model of self-reported arrests/serious trouble with the law consisted of four variables in the following order of importance: substance use, actual grade-point average, aggressive symptoms, and gender. CONCLUSION: This is one of the first major studies to examine the prevalence and risk-protective factors of misconduct for adolescents of Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry, and the first to include a valid measure of cultural identification and actual school data. The findings indicated that gender-specific prevention and intervention programs are needed. However, the issues are also complex whereby the use of substances, school performance, and aggression must be taken into account in deriving successful programs. The lack of sustained association between culturally based factors (e.g., ethnicity, Hawaiian cultural identifi-cation) and misconduct in the final parsimonious model suggested that the culturally based variables are not direct causes of misconduct, but rather correlates of misconduct that are over-shadowed by more substantive factors, such as substance use and academic performance, the latter being variables that must be addressed for youths across the United States. The present results reaffirmed the common correlates of misconduct across different ethnic groups. Further research is needed in the causal relationships among these important associations with misconduct.

Demographic and social variables associated with psychiatric and school-related indicators for Asian/Pacific-Islander adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Factors associated with Asian/Pacific-Islander adolescent adjustment is a greatly neglected research area. AIMS: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between demographic, social and adjustment measures based on a large-scale investigation of Asian/Pacific-Islander youths. METHOD: A total of 2577 adolescents were surveyed across 4 public schools in Hawai'i during the 1992--1993 school year. RESULTS: Three social variables (number of relatives frequently seen, family support and friends' support) exhibited statistically significant but low correlations. Family support had the highest negative association with the four psychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety, aggression, substance use). Friends' support was inconsistently associated with the adjustment measures, and the number of relatives frequently seen resulted in negligible effects. In contrast, demographic variables, especially ethnicity, played a much greater role in the association with the four school-related measures (grade-point average, absences, suspensions, conduct infractions). DISCUSSION: For Asian/Pacific-Islander youths, the quality of the social supports, including family relations, may be particularly important in the adolescents' adjustment. When examining school-related outcomes, demographic variables, with particular emphases on ethnicity and culture, must be considered. When developing and implementing prevention and intervention services and programs, consideration of family and ethnic-cultural influences should be taken into account, with further research needed in several related domains: other SES influences, life stressors, migration-generational effects, ethnic identity, self-concept indicators and socio-political aspects.