Suchergebnisse

This study examined the gender differences in drug-offer situations of Native Hawaiian youths in rural communities. Youths from seven middle or intermediate schools (N = 194) on the Big Island of Hawai'i completed a survey that focused on the drug offers they had received. Multivariate and bivariate analyses indicated that the girls received significantly more drug offers than did the boys in the sample and found it more difficult to refuse drugs in such situations. Qualitative data gathered from communities in the survey's sampling frame elucidated the quantitative findings. Limitations of the study and implications for prevention practice are discussed.

The study presented here examined the gender differences in preferred strategies used by rural Native Hawaiian youths to resist drugs and alcohol. Seventy-four youths (60% of whom were female) in eight middle/intermediate or high schools participated in 15 different focus groups as part of a pilot-feasibility drug prevention study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Consistent with relational–cultural theory, the qualitative findings indicated that the girls favored drug resistance strategies that maintained relational connectedness with the drug offerer and considered the long-term relational consequences of different drug resistance strategies. Implications of these findings for the indigenous- and gender-specific prevention of drug abuse are discussed.