Chapter 10 Journal Article

Ethnicity & Addiction

Chapter 10 of Wormer & Davis (2008) is titled "Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Issues." This chapter talks about the influence that ethnicity and culture can have on an addiction or treatment. Throughout the chapter, prevalence patterns, cultural factors, sociocultural factors, specific services, and treatment issues are discussed in regards to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Hispanics and Latinos, and African Americans. I thought for my journal article it would be interesting to find research that was done in another country to see if the article found if the culture of that country influenced addiction.

I read an article titled "Nicotine dependence and problem behaviors among urban South African adolescents" (Pahl et al., 2010). This article stated that tobacco use, and therefore nicotine dependence, are increasing around the world, including Africa. The study "examined the relationship between nicotine dependence and adolescent problem behaviors in an ethnically diverse sample of urban South African adolescents" (Pahl et al., 2010). These ethnicity's included Black, White, Colored, and Indian.

According to the research, approximately 31% of high school students (grades 8-11) in South Africa smoke tobacco products. The research also showed that among teenagers, problem behaviors tend to cluster. Therefore, engaging in one risky behavior is associated with the risk to engage in others. According to Pahl and associates (2010), violence, delinquent behavior, sexual risk behaviors, and substance abuse are the problem behaviors that mostly affect the adolescents in South Africa.

It is also believed that an inherited predisposition could be associated with adolescent risk behaviors. This would explain why some behaviors remain more common within certain races. The article also states that environmental influences and social influences such as schools and neighborhoods can increase the likelihood of these behaviors, as well as the quality of the relationship between parents and their children (Pahl et al., 2010). This relates to the parts of the book that talk about specific races and that how and where they are raised can influence their possibility of having an addiction.

The results of this study brought in a lot of great information about adolescents in general and what leads to certain behaviors. However, to keep focus on the topic, the findings that related to ethnicity specifically are as follows: "Black adolescents, compared to all other ethnic groups, were less likely to report having had sexual intercourse and to use marijuana and other illegal drugs at high levels. White adolescents, compared to their peers from other ethnic groups, were more likely to have had sexual intercourse. Indian adolescents, compared to all other ethnic groups, were less likely to use condoms inconsistently, while Colored adolescents were more likely to report having had multiple sexual partners, use condoms inconsistently, engage in binge drinking, and use marijuana at high levels" (Pahl et al., 2010).

The study also found that higher levels of nicotine dependence predicted a higher indication of violent or deviant behavior, marijuana or illegal drug use, binge drinking, sexual intercourse, multiple partners, and inconsistent condom use. This relationship was found to be strong in every ethnicity and gender (Pahl et al., 2010). This shows that addictive behaviors can cause or increase each other in adolescence regardless of the type of person.

I found it extremely interesting that the Black adolescents were less likely to have had sexual intercourse or use marijuana, as that is opposite of the stereotypes we hear about. Overall, Colored adolescents were most likely to engage in these risky behaviors that can lead to addictions. However, the article did not state clearly what "Colored" really meant. I would be interested to know the difference between that and the other races listed. Overall, it was very interesting to read this study because it not only was set in another part of the world, but still looked at different races within that.

References:

Pahl, K., Brook, D., Morojele, N., & Brook, J. (2010). Nicotine dependence and problem behaviors among urban South African adolescents. Journal Of Behavioral Medicine, 33(2), 101-109. doi:10.1007/s10865-009-9242-3

Wormer, K. V., & Davis, D. R. (2008). Addiction treatment: A strengths perspective. (2nd ed., pp. 107-110). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.