June 1 , 2006
National Coalition Institute's Research into Action

Multiracial Youth May Have Higher Risk
for Problem Behaviors

Multiracial children in the United States may be at higher risk of problem behaviors including substance abuse and violence than monoracial youth, and relationships between ethnic identity and racial discrimination may play a significant role in those behaviors, according to a study published recently in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.

Interracial dating and marriages are on the rise and multiracial births are increasing at a faster rate than monoracial births within the U.S. Scholars have argued that multiracial adolescents are likely to be at higher risk than monoracial European American or ethnic minority youth, as issues related to their multiracial background become more salient during the already challenging period of adolescence.

The literature on multiracial youth presents inconsistent findings. Some research portrays a fairly pessimistic picture indicating a higher incidence of academic problems, overrepresentation in mental heath treatment, low self-esteem, confused racial/ethnic identity, and other negative behaviors. Yet other studies show that multiracial adolescents are not significantly different from monoracial children in various adjustment outcomes, such as identity formation, self-concept, and a majority of school, behavioral, and psychological dimensions.

Emerging literature emphasizes racial discrimination and development of ethnic identity in understanding the development of ethnic minority adolescents. Researchers argue that minority status entails risk for a variety of stresses and psychosocial difficulties, such as poor self-image, feelings of alienation, and marginality. In addition, minority youth often experience injustices, societal inconsistencies, and denial of personal competence to a much greater extent than do majority youth. This environment is likely to adversely affect youth outcomes.

Studies suggest that retaining the cultural values of their ethic group and having a strong sense of ethnic identity are likely to operate as protective factors in development of ethnic minority youth. Although empirical data demonstrating that strong ethnic identity also reduces risk and enhances resilience among multiracial youth is scarce, the study hypothesizes that multiracial adolescents with stronger ethnic identity are less likely to initiate substance use and violent behaviors and report a lower frequency of these behaviors.

Rates and Patterns of Substance Abuse
The study found several significant differences between multiracial and monoracial youth in substance use behavior, controlling for age, gender, and income status. Multiracial youth were significantly more likely to have ever smoked, drunk alcohol, initiated marijuana use, and to have ever gotten drunk or high on drugs. While in some categories of drug use, such as inhalants, there were no significant differences between multiracial and African American adolescents, in most other cases the differences were substantial.

Rates and Patterns of Violent Behaviors
Violent behaviors showed similar patterns of racial/ethnic group differences as with substance abuse. Multiracial youth reported significantly higher rates of all violent behavior, except having ever carried a knife or razor, than European American youth. Multiracial youth also reported significantly higher rates of all violent behaviors than Asian America youth. The study found fewer significant differences between multiracial and African American youth, but multiracial youth reported significantly higher likelihood than African American youth for several violent behaviors.

Discussion:
The study results, overall, support the hypothesis of high rates of problem behaviors among multiracial adolescents relative to monoracial adolescents. The differences were significant at times. The authors indicate that these differences can be interpreted as a reflection of the higher vulnerability experienced by multiracial youth, heightened by the discrimination that they face. The authors indicate that multiracial youth have keener awareness of the issues related to race/ethnicity and may experience a sense of marginality at an earlier age than monoracial ethnic minority youth. In particular, the association between racial discrimination and several outcomes are significant and positive: perceived racial discrimination increased the likelihood of the problem behaviors investigated.

The findings of this study also suggest that a strong, positive ethnic identity may serve as a protective factor, particularly for the frequency of substance use and violence.

Source: Choi, Y, Harachi,T.W., Gillmore, M.R., Catalano, R. (2006) Are multiracial adolescents at greater risk? Comparison of rates, patterns, and correlates of substance use and violence between monoracial and multiracial adolescents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Volume 76 (1), January 2006, p. 86-97.

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