Ethnicity and acculturation: Asian American substance use from early adolescence to mature adulthood

Research on Asian American substance use has, to date, been limited by monolithic conceptions of Asian identity, inadequate attention to acculturative processes, and a dearth of longitudinal analyses spanning multiple developmental periods. Using five waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study addresses these limitations by longitudinally investigating disparities in substance use from early adolescence into mature adulthood among Asian American ethnic groups, including subjects identifying as multiple Asian ethnicities and multiracial Asians. The conditional effects of acculturation indicators (e.g. nativity generation, co-ethnic peer networks, co-ethnic neighbourhood concentration) on the substance use outcomes were also examined. Results indicate significant variation across Asian ethnicities, with the lowest probabilities of substance use among Chinese and Vietnamese Americans, and the highest among multiracial Asian Americans. Acculturation indicators were also strongly, independently associated with increased substance use, and attenuated many of the observed ethnic disparities, particularly for multiracial, multiethnic, and Japanese Asian Americans. This study argues that ignoring the diversity of Asian ethnicities masks the presence of high-risk Asian American groups. Further, results indicate that, among contemporary Asian Americans, substance use is strongly positively associated with acculturation to U.S. cultural norms, and generally peaks at later ages than the U.S. average.