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Rates and patterns of substance use and violent behaviors among multiracial adolescents were examined and compared with 3 monoracial groups, European, African, and Asian Americans. The relationships between ethnic identity and the subjective experience of racial discrimination, substance use, and violent behavior were also examined. The authors found multiracial adolescents reporting higher rates of problem behaviors. Several significant relationships between ethnic identity and racial discrimination were found with these problem behaviors.The number of multiracial children in the United States is rapidly increasing. This group is expected to continue growing because interracial dating and marriages are on the rise and multiracial births are increasing at a faster rate than monoracial births de Anda & Riddel, 1991;Deters, 1997;Gibbs & Moskowitz-Sweet, 1991;Root, 1996; M. S. Spencer, Icard, Harachi, Catalano, & Oxford, 2000). Adolescence is a challenging time for children. A significant proportion of youths in the United States experience various problem behaviors, such as interpersonal violence, delinquency, substance use, and risky sexual behaviors (Bogenschneider, 1996;Brooks-Gunn & Paikoff, 1993; Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2000;Dryfoos, 1998;Graber, Brooks-Gunn, Paikoff, & Warren, 1994;Lonczak, Abbott, Hawkins, Kosterman, & Catalano, 2002; Wyche & RotheramBorus, 1990;Yoshikawa, 1994). Scholars argue that multiracial adolescents are likely to be at higher risk than monoracial European American or ethnic minority youths, as issues related to their multiracial background become more salient during the already challenging developmental period of adolescence de Anda & Riddel, 1991;Deters, 1997;Gibbs & Moskowitz-Sweet, 1991). For example, peer acceptance may be a particularly pervasive problem for multiracial youths due to their ambiguous racial status, and it may lead to higher levels of behavioral and psychosocial problems, including a higher incidence of social isolation and involvement in delinquent behaviors (Brown, 1990;Gibbs, 1989;Gibbs & Moskowitz-Sweet, 1991 NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThis study attempts to begin filling gaps relevant to prevention research on multiracial youths. There is a dearth of empirical studies on multiracial youths despite their growing population size and diversity and their potentially unique needs. Thus, little is known about the rates and patterns of behaviors and the determinants and consequences of problem behaviors among multiracial adolescents. In studies of adolescent problem behaviors, it is often the case that multiracial adolescents are not regarded as a distinct group (Brown, 1990;Fernandez, 1996;Overnier, 1990;Wardle, 1991). In part, this is due to measurement. Many survey formats use items to measure racial classification that force respondents to check only one racial category (Root, 1996). This study utilized data from the Minority Youth Health Project. This sample (N = 2,082) from Seattle public midd...

Health promotion should be evidence-based, needs driven, subject to evaluation, and ecological in perspective. How can this be achieved in the context of school-based sex education? Adopting new behaviors and giving up old habits involves common decision-making, planning, motivational control, and goal prioritization processes. Consequently, despite the particular nature of sexual behavior, models of cognitive change applied to other health-related behaviors also apply to the promotion of safer sex practice. Young people are less likely to have unprotected sexual intercourse if they have acquired a variety of social skills relevant to dealing with romantic and sexual relationships. Many of these social skills and the methods employed to facilitate their development are also important to the promotion of other health behaviors. However, teaching social skills relevant to sexual behavior in classroom settings requires specialist expertise both in program design and in delivery by teachers or facilitators. Theory- and evidence-based programs designed to promote such skills and modified on the basis of effectiveness evaluations are most likely to have an impact on the rate of pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among young people. Yet, such programs may not be used in schools because of policy and cultural constraints. When this is the case, optimally effective health promotion cannot be delivered. Health promoters should acknowledge these challenges and facilitate the adoption and implementation of effective sexual health promotion programs by targeting communities and legislators.

ࡗ Teen Sexual Behavior: Applicability of the Theory of Reasoned ActionWe examined the utility of the theory of reasoned action for predicting sexual intercourse among teenagers and determined whether it holds for both genders and for those with and without prior sexual experience. The data include 749 students who were in 9th-11th grades when the predictors were measured and in 10th-12th grades when sexual intercourse was assessed. About half (53%) were girls, about half (48%) were non-Hispanic European Americans. Results showed that prior sexual experience was related to a higher rate of sexual intercourse, but boys and girls did not differ. Tests of the causal model for subgroups (boy and girl virgins, boy and girl nonvirgins) yielded similar results. As predicted, paths from intentions to behavior and from norms and attitudes to intentions were significant, as were paths from outcome and normative beliefs to attitude and norm, respectively.

Although it is often assumed that drinking alcohol interferes with condom use, most studies on this topic do not meet the conditions required for causal interpretation. We examined the association of drinking to condom use using data from diaries of alcohol use and sexual encounters, collected over 8 weeks from college students and clients of a sexually transmitted disease clinic. This method establishes the temporal relationships between drinking and condom use and controls for individual differences by using a within-subjects analysis. Multilevel models that predicted condom use from alcohol use before the sexual encounter, partner type, and the use of other contraception showed that drinking before sex was unrelated to condom use. These results do not support the persistent notion that alcohol causes people to engage in sexual risk that they would avoid when sober; instead, people tend to follow their usual pattern of condom use, regardless of alcohol use.