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Abstract
<p class="first" id="P1">Fifty percent of adolescents have tried an illicit drug and
70% have tried alcohol
by the end of high school, with even higher rates among multiracial youth. Ethnic
identity is a protective factor against substance use for minority groups. However,
little is known about the mechanisms that facilitate its protective effects, and even
less is known about this relationship for multiracial youth. The purpose of the present
study was to examine the protective effect of ethnic identity on substance use and
to determine whether this relationship operated indirectly through self-esteem, a
strong predictor of substance use for among adolescent populations. Participants included
468 multiracial youth in grades six through 12 (53% female). The results found that
ethnic identity was indeed related to substance use, partially through changes in
self-esteem. Findings from this study contribute to our understanding and development
of models of risk and protection for an understudied population.
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