Abstract
Reservation-dwelling American Indian adolescents are at exceedingly high risk for cannabis use. Prevention initiatives to delay onset and escalation of use are needed. School engagement and student’s positive experiences at school have been identified as key promotive factors against cannabis use in the general population of adolescents, but little work has examined these factors among American Indian youth. Seven school-related promotive factors were examined as predictors of past 30-day cannabis use (measured 6 months later), controlling for previous onset of cannabis use as well as a set of relevant potential confounders. Models were tested using 280 adolescents in 6th or 7th grade at the start of the study from two reservation-based schools in the US. Students were surveyed three times, with 6 months in between each survey. The average age at the start of the study was 11.99 years (SD = 0.87) and 54% of participants were female. Using a cumulative logit model to predict past 30-day use, American Indian youth who reported greater school bonding, academic aspirations, proclivity to endeavor in their studies, and interest in school at Wave 2 reported less 30-day cannabis use at Wave 3 (controlling for onset of cannabis at Wave 1 and several other control variables). No evidence of an effect of self-reported grades, perceived safety, or participation in school-related extracurricular activities was found. Given substantial deterioration of these school-related promotive factors over time, and the effect of the school-related promotive factors on subsequent cannabis use, efforts to design and test interventions to promote school engagement as a protective measure against cannabis use is warranted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
National Caucus of Native American State Legislators (Ed.). (n.d.). Striving to achieve: Helping native american students succeed. https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/striving-to-achieve-helping-native-american-stude.aspx.
Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1). https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01.
Bryant, A. L., Schulenberg, J. E., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Johnston, L. D. (2003). How academic achievement, attitudes, and behaviors relate to the course of substance use during adolescence: A 6-year, multiwave national longitudinal study. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13(3), 361–397. https://doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.1303005.
van Buuren, S., & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, K. (2011). Mice: Multivariate imputation by chained equations in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 45, 1–67. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v045.i03.
Cambron, C., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (2018). The social development model. In D. P. Farrington, L. Kazemian, & A. R. Piquero (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology (pp. 223–247). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190201371.013.13.
Chapman, R. L., Buckley, L., Sheehan, M., & Shochet, I. (2013). School-based programs for increasing connectedness and reducing risk behavior: a systematic review. Educational Psychology Review, 25(1), 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-013-9216-4.
Christensen, R. H. B. (2019). Ordinal: Regression models for ordinal data. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/ordinal/index.html.
Covarrubias, R., & Fryberg, S. A. (2015). The impact of self-relevant representations on school belonging for native american students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21(1), 10–18. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037819.
Eccles, J. S. (2009). Who am i and what am i going to do with my life? Personal and collective identities as motivators of action. Educational Psychologist, 44(2), 78–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520902832368.
Eitle, T. M., Eitle, D., & Johnson-Jennings, M. (2013). General strain theory and substance use among american indian adolescents. Race and Justice, 3(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368712460553.
Finn, J. D., & Zimmer, K. S. (2012). Student engagement: What is it? Why does it matter? In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (pp. 97–131). Boston, MA: Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_5.
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059.
Galliher, R. V., Evans, C. M., & Weiser, D. (2007). Social and individual predictors of substance use for native american youth. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 16(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1300/J029v16n03_01.
Gottfredson, M., & Hirschi, T. (2019). Modern control theory and the limits of criminal justice. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190069797.001.0001
Gutman, L. M., & Eccles, J. S. (2007). Stage-environment fit during adolescence: trajectories of family relations and adolescent outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 522–537. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.2.522.
Henry, K. L., Knight, K. E., & Thornberry, T. P. (2012). School disengagement as a predictor of dropout, delinquency, and problem substance use during adolescence and early adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(2), 156–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9665-3.
Henry, K. L., Smith, E. A., & Caldwell, L. L. (2007). Deterioration of academic achievement and marijuana use onset among rural adolescents. Health Education Research, 22(3), 372–384. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyl083.
Hussar, B., Zhang, J., Hein, S., Wang, K., Roberts, A., Cui, J., Purcell, S. (2020). The condition of education 2020 (p. 348). https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020144.
Johnston, L. D., Miech, R. A., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Schulenberg, J. E., & Patrick, M. E. (2019). Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2018: Overview, key findings on adolescent drug use. Institute for Social Research. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED594190.
Lam, S., Jimerson, S., Wong, B., Kikas, E., Shin, H., Veiga, F., & Zollneritsch, J. (2014). Understanding and measuring student engagement in school: The results of an international study from 12 countries. School Psychology Quarterly, 29, 213–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000057.
Li, Y., & Lerner, R. M. (2011). Trajectories of school engagement during adolescence: implications for grades, depression, delinquency, and substance use. Developmental Psychology, 47(1), 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021307.
Lüdecke, D. (2018). Ggeffects: Tidy data frames of marginal effects from regression models. Journal of Open Source Software, 3(26), 772 https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.00772.
Moilanen, K. L., Markstrom, C. A., & Jones, E. (2014). Extracurricular activity availability and participation and substance use among american indian adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(3), 454–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0088-1.
Napoli, M., Marsiglia, F. F., & Kulis, S. (2003). Sense of belonging in school as a protective factor against drug abuse among native american urban adolescents. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 3(2), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1300/j160v03n02_03.
Paternoster, R., & Pogarsky, G. (2009). Rational choice, agency and thoughtfully reflective decision making: The short and long-term consequences of making good choices. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25(2), 103–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-009-9065-y.
Payne, A. A., & Salotti, S. (2007). A comparative analysis of social learning and social control theories in the prediction of college crime. Deviant Behavior, 28(6), 553–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620701357933.
R Core Team. (2020). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/.
Rees, C., Freng, A., & Winfree, L. T. (2014). The native american adolescent: social network structure and perceptions of alcohol induced social problems. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(3), 405–425. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0018-2.
RStudio Team. (2020). RStudio: Integrated development environment for R. Boston, MA. http://www.rstudio.com/.
Rubin, D. B. (1976). Inference and missing data. Biometrika, 63(3), 581–592. https://doi.org/10.2307/2335739.
Rumberger, R. W. (1987). High school dropouts: a review of issues and evidence. Review of Educational Research, 57(2), 101–121. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543057002101.
Skinner, E., Furrer, C., Marchand, G., & Kindermann, T. (2008). Engagement and disaffection in the classroom: Part of a larger motivational dynamic? Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(4), 765–781. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012840.
Sloboda, Z., Glantz, M. D., & Tarter, R. E. (2012). Revisiting the concepts of risk and protective factors for understanding the etiology and development of substance use and substance use disorders: Implications for prevention. Substance Use & Misuse, 47(8-9), 944–962. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2012.663280.
Snyder, F. J., Acock, A. C., Vuchinich, S., Beets, M. W., Washburn, I. J., & Flay, B. R. (2013). Preventing negative behaviors among elementary-school students through enhancing students’ social-emotional and character development. American Journal of Health Promotion: AJHP, 28(1), 50–58. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.120419-QUAN-207.2.
Stanley, L. R., & Swaim, R. C. (2015). Initiation of alcohol, marijuana, and inhalant use by american-indian and white youth living on or near reservations. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 155, 90–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.08.009.
Swaim, R. C., & Stanley, L. R. (2018). Substance use among american indian youths on reservations compared with a national sample of US adolescents. JAMA Network Open, 1(1), e180382–e180382. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.0382.
Walls, M., Sittner Hartshorn, K. J., & Whitbeck, L. B. (2013). North american indigenous adolescent substance use. Addictive Behaviors, 38(5), 2103–2109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.01.004.
Wang, M.-T., & Eccles, J. S. (2012). Adolescent behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement trajectories in school and their differential relations to educational success. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(1), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00753.x.
Wang, M.-T., & Hofkens, T. L. (2020). Beyond classroom academics: a school-wide and multi-contextual perspective on student engagement in school. Adolescent Research Review, 5(4), 419–433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-019-00115-z.
Whitesell, N. R., Kaufman, C. E., Keane, E. M., Crow, C. B., Shangreau, C., & Mitchell, C. M. (2012). Patterns of substance use initiation among young adolescents in a northern plains american indian tribe. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 38(5), 383–388. https://doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2012.694525.
Wickham, H., Averick, M., Bryan, J., Chang, W., McGowan, L. D., François, R., & Yutani, H. (2019). Welcome to the tidyverse. Journal of Open Source Software, 4(43), 1686 https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01686.
Wu, L.-T., Woody, G. E., Yang, C., Pan, J.-J., & Blazer, D. G. (2011). Racial/ethnic variations in substance-related disorders among adolescents in the united states. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(11), 1176–1185. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.120.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K.L.H. conceived of the study, conducted formal analyses, prepared the original draft, and conducted revisions for re-submission. M.A.C. contributed to the literature review, conducted preliminary analysis, drafted substantial sections of the paper, and provided critical revisions. R.C.S. served as principal investigator of the parent project, including funding acquisition; he also contributed to the literature review, drafted substantial sections, and provided critical revisions. L.R.S. served as principal investigator of the parent project, including funding acquisition; she also contributed preliminary analysis, drafted substantial sections, and provided critical revisions. All authors read and approved the final paper and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Funding
This study was supported by grant R01 DA003371 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health.
Data Sharing and Declaration
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical Approval
All aspects of the project were performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. Current study protocols and procedures were reviewed and approved by the Colorado State University Institutional Review Board.
Informed Consent
Informed assent/consent was obtained from all individual participants and their parents or legal guardians.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Henry, K.L., Crabtree, M.A., Swaim, R.C. et al. School-related Promotive Factors Related to Cannabis Use Among American Indian Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 51, 1017–1029 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01554-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01554-5