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This study supported associations between three theoretically driven conceptualizations of racial and ethnic identity (REI; Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure; Multidimensional Racial Identity Measure; Bicultural Identity Measure) and with adaptive functioning among Canadian indigenous adolescents in middle school to high school. Age differences were found across the ethnic identity statuses but not for the continuous REI measures. Overall, adolescents placed predominantly at the traditional (identified with indigenous culture) and marginal (neither identified with indigenous nor mainstream culture) ethnic identity statuses with fewer marginal and more bicultural (identified with both indigenous and mainstream cultures) categorized adolescents across the age-range. Traditional students followed by those classified as bicultural evidenced greater REI and adaptive functioning in comparison with marginal and mainstream students. Predicted relationships between REI and adjustment among Canadian First Nation adolescents were supported; findings suggest potential benefits of First Nation communities for REI development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study reports findings from two-level growth curve modeling of cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms based on the first three waves of data from a longitudinal study of Indigenous adolescents and their parents/caretakers in the northern Midwest and Canada. The 743 adolescents were aged 10–13 years at Wave 1 and 12–15 years at Wave 3. Over the three years of the study the overall retention rate was 93%. By Wave 3, 39% of the adolescent girls and 25% of the boys had smoked cigarettes in the past 12 months. The growth curve results indicated that smoking increased for both adolescent boys and girls across time. Depressive symptoms were associated with an increase in cigarette smoking for girls but not boys. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The data for this study come from an eight-wave panel study of Indigenous (Canadian First Nations and American Indian) adolescents from three U.S. reservations and four Canadian reserves., Objectives: Our objective was to investigate variations in patterns of substance use initiation from early adolescence through early adulthood using data collected annually for 8 years., Method: At baseline the sample included 675 Indigenous adolescents (M age=11.10, SD=.83; 50.3% girls). First, we calculated cumulative rates of substance use initiation by age. We then examined whether the cumulative initiation rates were moderated by gender using logistic regression analyses. Second, we calculated hazard rates for substance use initiation by age. Third, we focused on the ordering of two substances, paired two substances, and three substance initiation sequences., Results: If one looks only at the cumulative rates of substance use initiation there appears to be support for a sequential progression of substance use during early adolescence. In contrast to the cumulative rates of substance use initiation, the hazard analyses showed a much more mixed, less progressive sequence. Among two substance pairings a nicotine to marijuana initiation sequence was most likely, followed by a nicotine to alcohol sequence. An alcohol to marijuana sequence was nearly twice as likely as a marijuana to alcohol sequence. Refined analyses to conform to those of many of the traditional gateway studies by introducing paired two substance orderings indicated that nicotine and/or alcohol prior to marijuana use was by far the most likely sequence. In two of the three most likely three substance sequences (nicotine to alcohol to marijuana and nicotine to marijuana to alcohol) nicotine was the first substance initiated., Conclusion: This study refines the gateway hypothesis for Indigenous adolescents by providing an in-depth analysis of substance use initiation. The only evidence for a "gateway" substance that emerged in our analyses was for nicotine use which was likely to precede alcohol and marijuana use in both two-substance pairings and to a lesser extent in three-substance initiation sequences., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)