Functions of drinking for Native American and White youth

Abstract

Despite long concern in the United States over alcohol consumption by adolescents and problems associated with drinking among Native Americans, few studies have dealt with the functions of drinking for Native American and White youth. The findings presented here are based on responses to a self-report questionnaire administered to ninth- through twelfth-grade students at two high schools in Fremont County, Wyoming — the county where the great majority of Wyoming's Native American population resides. Based on work by Jessor, Carman and Grossman, 30 items concerning positive-social, personal-effect, and experiential reasons for drinking were examined. Although there are some statistically significant differences in responses to individual items and statistically significant differences between Indian and White males and females on the Personal-Effect and Positive-Social categories of items, the functions of drinking appear to be quite similar for these Indian and White youth.