Lisa A. Cubbins, PhD¹, Hyoshin Kim, PhD², and John O.G. Billy, PhD¹. (1) Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Battelle Memorial Institute, 4500 Sand Point Way NE, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98105-3949, 206-528-3019, cubbinsl@battelle.org, (2) Battelle Centers for Public Health Research & Evaluation, 4500 Sand Point Way NE, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98105-3949

The paper addresses ethnic differences in teenage drinking and alcohol-related problems, focusing on whether school environment diminishes the impact of excessive drinking by best friends and peers in the teenager’s social network. Ethnic variation in adolescent alcohol use and alcohol-related problems are compared across seven ethnic groups: African Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and, non-Hispanic whites. We use ordinary least-squares regression and logistic regression to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) for a cohort of over 15,000 teenagers (11-18 years). The outcome measures are ever having used alcohol, ever having binge drank, nine separate alcohol-related problems in the past year, and the number of alcohol-related problems in the past year. The effects of twelve school environment characteristics are examined: public versus private; urban, suburban, or rural; school size; average class size parental involvement in parent-teacher association; policy on student possession of alcohol at school; grade-specific rules on student behavior; school alcohol use prevention programs; course curricula on alcohol use; quality of teaching staff; tenure of teaching staff; and, gender and ethnic composition of teaching staff. The paper identifies aspects of the school environment that may prevent or reduce teenage drinking, as well as evaluates whether these aspects of the school environment have the same effect on adolescents of different ethnicities. This information will be important in designing alcohol-prevention programs that are sensitive to the needs of a diverse student population.

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