Historical Trauma and Substance Use among Native Hawaiian College Students

Abstract

Objectives To test the relationships among historical trauma, perceived discrimination, and substance use (cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use) among Native Hawaiians. Methods Cross sectional self-report data were collected online from 128 Native Hawaiian community college students (M age = 27.5; SD = 9.5; 65% Women). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results Historical trauma had 2 paths to substance use: an indirect path to higher substance use through higher perceived discrimination and a direct path to lower substance use. Conclusions Thoughts, knowledge, or experience associated with historical trauma may enhance substance use behavior via increased perceived discrimination and may also be protective against substance use, possibly via increased pride in one's cultural heritage. This research has implications for historical trauma, discrimination, and substance use research concerning Native Hawaiians.

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Mental Health: a Review and Future Directions for Social Epidemiology

“…A few studies assessed historical trauma as an important factor in elucidating the detrimental impact that long-term and historical exposure to discrimination can have on the mental health status of marginalized racial and ethnic groups. However, the measures of historical trauma used, such as the Historical Loss Scale and Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale [28], were developed for Native American populations and may not incorporate concepts that are pertinent to other racial or ethnic groups’ experiences. Additionally, bullying, a form of violence characterized by repeated unprovoked aggressive behavior that intends to cause harm [27,29,30], has been examined among marginalized racial/ethnic adolescents.…”

“…Overwhelmingly, the findings are based on cross-sectional data. Regression analysis was primarily used, but some employed more sophisticated methods, such as latent class analysis and latent profile analysis to create categories of various exposure variables, including discriminatory experience, cultural stressors, and coping styles [22,28,30,31,44,45]. Techniques were employed by some studies to examine potential intermediary pathways between discrimination and mental health, such as through depressive symptoms or anxiety [19,24,43,46], avoidant coping strategies [33,47], trans diagnostic factors [48], general stress [40], stronger belief in an unjust world [49], acculturation-related and social support variables [13,50,51], anger [46], prosocial behavior [33], and perfectionism [52].…”

“…Techniques were employed by some studies to examine potential intermediary pathways between discrimination and mental health, such as through depressive symptoms or anxiety [19,24,43,46], avoidant coping strategies [33,47], trans diagnostic factors [48], general stress [40], stronger belief in an unjust world [49], acculturation-related and social support variables [13,50,51], anger [46], prosocial behavior [33], and perfectionism [52]. Other studies employed mediation techniques to examine if discrimination was on the pathway between a more upstream exposure, such as childhood adversity [53], historical trauma [28], a perpetual foreigner stereotype [37], white composition of one’s environment [29], critical ethnic awareness [50], and nativity [54], and a mental health outcome. Moderation by stress buffers was also considered in several studies described below.…”

“…Yet, it is the histories of marginalized racial and ethnic in the U.S. that have shaped their experiences of mistreatment over generations. This intergenerational experience of overt and institutionalized oppression (e.g., land loss, enslavement, segregation, genocide, colonization, war, and other forms of social, political, and cultural subjugation) affecting generations of indigenous, African, Asian, Latino, and other marginalized racial and ethnic descendants living in the U.S., is called “historical trauma.” Historical trauma reflects not only the influence this trauma has on those who experience it first-hand, but also its persistent effects on future generations [28,86]. …”

Annual review of Asian American Psychology, 2014.

“…Other articles studied substance use more generally, covering cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, or “hard” drugs ( n = 8; L. Fang & Schinke, 2014; Helm, Okamoto, Kaliades, & Giroux, 2014; Okamoto, Helm, et al, 2014; Okamoto, Kulis, Helm, Edwards, & Giroux, 2014; Pedersen et al, 2014; Pokhrel & Herzog, 2014; Savage & Mezuk, 2014; Yu et al, 2014). Substance use emerged as an important health issue across a wide range of developmental periods, including adolescence (e.g., Helm et al, 2014; Okamoto, Kulis, et al, 2014), emerging adulthood (e.g., Jimi Huh, Heesung Shin, et al, 2014; Luczak et al, 2014) and all other periods of adulthood (e.g., Mukherjea et al, 2014; Tsang et al, 2014).…”