Peer networks, parental attributes, and drug use among Asian-Indian adolescents born in the United States.

This study examined the interrelationships among peer networks, parental attributes, and drug use among Asian-Indian adolescents born in the United States whose parents emigrated from India. The sample consisted of 200 Asian-Indian adolescents, 116 males and 84 females, aged 13 to 18, who were born in the United States and resided in the greater New York metropolitan area. The subjects were interviewed using a semistructured instrument adapted from relevant validated scales and items from other researchers. Adolescent-reported data were analyzed using descriptive and univariable techniques. Of the 200 subjects, 32.5% had tried some form of tobacco, alcohol, or other drug, and 67.5% did not report drug use of any kind. The adolescents stated whether they had ever (at least one time) smoked cigarettes (16.5%), drank beer (18%), drank wine (20.5%), or smoked marijuana (2.5%). The parents' communication of the harmful consequences of drug use and approval of the adolescents' peer networks correlated (p < .05) independently with less drug use by the adolescents. The parents' concern for education was positively correlated (p < .05) with the adolescents' academic performance. The prevalence of drug use among Asian-Indian adolescents is low. Parents' awareness of their children's school performance, peer networks, and concerns related to the consequences of drug use can be used as an effective mechanism to communicate the prevention of drug use among adolescents.