The Next Generation:
The health and well being of young people of color in the Twin Cities
A
report based on the Minnesota Adolescent Health Survey
Published by The Urban Coalition of Minneapolis, Yusef Mgeni, President
Prepared
by:
Peter Rode, Vice President for Research and Policy Kenyari Bellfield,
Health Program Officer, Reprinted October, 1992
Several tables in this report have not been reproduced as part of this
electronic copy.
Urban
Coalition of Minneapolis
708 Third Street South, Suite 300
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415
(612) 348-8550
University
of Minnesota Children, Youth and Families Consortium. Permission is
granted to create and distribute copies of this document for non-commercial
purposes provided that the Urban Coalition and University of Minnesota's
adolescent Health Program and MN CYFC receive acknowledgment and this
notice is included.
URBAN
COALITION OF MINNEAPOLIS
Founded
in 1968, the Urban Coalition is a non-profit research and advocacy organization
which works to improve the economic, social, and political status of
African American, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic, and low-income persons
in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.
The
Coalition focuses its efforts on education, employment, health, energy,
housing, and food and hunger issues. The Minnesota Food Education and
Research Center is a statewide program of the Urban Coalition that works
to reduce hunger throughout the state. The SMART START program, which
enables families to become better advocates for the education of their
children, was developed by the Coalition as a pilot project and has
now been transferred to several community agencies. Urban Coalition
Energy Programs, Inc. is a separate non-profit organization which in
conjunction with the Minneapolis Community Action Agency has been weatherizing
the homes of low-income persons for the past 10 years. The Coalition
is committed to working with others to build a multi-cultural, multi
racial community in the Twin Cities that honors and draws strength from
the traditions and aspirations of diverse peoples.
Most
research in the Twin Cities effectively bypasses communities of color.
By its sheer size, the Adolescent Health Survey conducted in 1987 by
the University of Minnesota's Adolescent Health Program-is an impressive
exception. In Minneapolis and St. Paul alone, over 4,000 African American,
American Indian, Asian and Hispanic junior high and senior high school
students participated in the survey. The result is an unusual opportunity
to learn something about the physical, mental and emotional health of
adolescents of color in the Twin Cities.
We
would like to thank the staff of the University's Adolescent Health
Program, who designed and conducted the survey, for their commitment
to making the survey data available to the public. Lois Geer's enthusiastic
response to the idea of an Urban Coalition/ University of Minnesota
collaboration helped to get the project underway. Linda Harris handled
the computer programming and contributed greatly to the analysis. Drs.
Robert Blum and Michael Resnick provided valuable advice and support.
Throughout
the life of this project, we benefited from the insights and ideas of
an advisory committee composed of educators, counselors, health professionals
and others who work directly with young people of color. Their help
in interpreting the results of the survey and finding the meaning behind
the raw numbers was invaluable. We would like to thank the members of
the advisory committee, including:
Stephanie
Autumn Red School House
Mary Beaulieu St. Paul American Indian Center Kambon Camara Minneapolis
Urban League Henry Counts Counts and Associates, Inc. Ann Dogan Dr.
Bianca Rosa Egas Centro Cultural Chicano Jean Egbert American Refugee
Committee Angeles Juarez Boissan Moore Institute on Black Chemical Abuse
Tam Nguyen Community University Health Care Center Mark Orlando Chicanos
Latinos Unidos en Servicios Ron Otterson Center School
Carol Parker Community University Health Care Center Beverly Propes
United Way of the Minneapolis Area Norine Smith Indian Health Board
of Minneapolis MengKruy Ung Refugee and Immigrant Resource Center Dr.
Ernest Wynne III Columbia Park Clinic
Several
colleagues at the Urban Coalition reviewed early drafts and made important
contributions to the report. We owe special thanks to Musa Moore-Foster,
Yusef Mgeni, Anthony Morley, and Elaine Salinas for their thoughtful
observations and suggestions.
We
would like, finally, to express our appreciation to the Honeywell Foundation,
which provided financial support for computer programming, analysis
and printing.
1.
Introduction
The
physical, mental and emotional health of Minnesota's young people is
one of the most critical concerns facing the Twin Cities community.
It demands attention above all because boys and girls of every racial
and ethnic group deserve to be able to live and grow and contribute
to their fullest potential. It is also important because young people
are the advance messengers of an increasingly multi-cultural, multi-racial
society in the Twin Cities. Already, 40 percent of St. Paul public school
students and nearly half of Minneapolis public school students are African
American, American Indian, Asian or Hispanic. Future leaders, workers,
consumers, parents, and artists are growing up in this emerging generation.
The
ability of the Twin Cities community to promote the health and well-being
of its young people is seriously undermined by the lack of understanding
and dialogue between young people particularly young people of color-and
the broader community. American society is in many ways an age-segregated
society, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the lack of genuine
two-way communication between adolescents and those who are a generation
or two older. When distorted images and stereotypes concerning different
racial/ethnic groups are added to an existing pattern of agesegregation,
the potential for misunderstanding and lost opportunities becomes all
the greater. We need to find ways to listen to what young people of
every racial and ethnic group are saying and to understand what they
are experiencing.
The
purpose of this report is to encourage deeper understanding and promote
community action by providing information on the thoughts, fears, behaviors
and experiences of young people living in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
It does that by presenting the responses of junior high and senior high
school students (grades 7 through 12) to the University of Minnesota's
Adolescent Health Survey, which involved thousands of students from
allparts of the state. The survey covered many subjects broadly related
to health, including body image, mental and emotional stress, suicide
risk, major worries and concerns, sexual behavior, chemical use, antisocial
behavior, physical health problems, feelings and experiences with school,
and relationships with family, friends and others.
Organization
of the Report
Aside
from the Introduction, the report is divided into several sections.
Chapter 2 provides background information on the family structure and
economic situation of the adolescents. Chapters 3 to 5 focus on the
major worries and concerns of youths and on indicators of emotional
stress and physical health. Chapters 6 to 8 explore risky or potentially
unhealthy behavior, including suicide, chemical use, and sexual activity
that may lead to teen pregnancy. Chapters 9 and 10 consider the role
of persons and institutions that influence students' lives, including
the family, friends, and school. The concluding chapter presents eight
challenges which the Twin Cities must address to enable young people
of color to grow and contribute to their fullest potential.
The
report presents survey results for each racial/ethnic group. Breakdowns
by gender and age are also included when appropriate. Detailed statistical
tables are located at the end of each chapter.
Description
of the Sample
In
order to focus on the experiences of young people of color, this report
is based on survey responses received from public school students in
the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts, where most of Minnesota's
people of color live. Every secondary school within the Minneapolis
school district participated in the survey, as did most of the alternative
schools associated with the district. In addition, four junior and senior
high schools were selected for participation by the St. Paul school
district. The survey was administered during February 1987 in Minneapolis
and May 1987 in St. Paul. In each school, all students present in school
on the survey day were asked to complete the survey questionnaire in
a classroom setting. Trained survey administrators were on hand to answer
questions and to protect the confidentiality of the students' responses.
Students had the right to refuse to take part in the survey, and their
parents received notices which informed them of their right to refuse
to allow their child to participate.
Because
this survey was based totally on the self-reports of the students, steps
were taken, including the use of an occasional trick question, to detect
patterns of distortion. A small number of surveys were excluded from
the data base due to an obvious pattern of misrepresentation.
The
original Adolescent Health Survey data base included surveys from 13,879
students in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts, or about
69 percent of those enrolled in participating schools. For the purposes
of this study, 964 were removed from the data base either because the
question on racial/ethnic group was not answered or because there were
too many missing responses. The final sample of 12,915 included 4,082
African American, American Indian, Asian, and Hispanic students. The
racial/ethnic breakdown of the final sample was as follows:
| African
American |
2,584 |
| American
Indian |
372 |
| Asian |
856 |
| Hispanic |
270 |
| White |
8,833 |
| Total |
12,915 |
Overall,
it appears that nearly two thirds (64%) of all students enrolled in
participating Minneapolis and St. Paul schools were included in the
final sample. The percentage of respondents was identical in both cities.
However, there were significant differences in the estimated response
rates for each racial/ethnic group, ranging from 44 percent for American
Indians to 70 percent for Whites.
Estimated
Participation Rates
| Final
Sample |
|
| African
American |
58% |
| American
Indian |
44% |
| Asian |
51% |
| Hispanic |
69% |
| White |
70% |
These
estimated response rates should be treated with caution. They are calculated
by comparing the number of surveys received with the total enrollment
of each racial/ethnic group as determined by the "student sight
count," which is recorded in October of each year. Using the sight
count to measure enrollment presents some difficulties. First, the sight
count is done early in the school year while the survey was administered
near the end of the year. Some students may have dropped out between
the beginning of the school year and the survey date, or may have moved
to another district, or may have switched schools. School-d, the sight
count is based on teachers' determinations of the racial/ethnic background
of each student, while the survey asks students to identify their own
group.
For
an overview of the survey results for the statewide sample of 36,284
students, see The State of Adolescent Health in Minnesota, published
by the Adolescent Health Program, University of Minnesota, February,
1989.
Despite
these difficulties, the estimated participation rates do provide some
sense of the scope and representatives of the final sample.
2.
Limitations & Precautions
The
major limitation of the sample is that it records the responses only
of those students who were in school and willing to participate on the
day the survey was administered in their school. Young people who have
dropped out of school are completely unrepresented, and students who
are often sick or truant from school are more likely to be under-represented.
The relatively low rate of participation among American Indian students,
and to some extent African American students, may be due in part to
high dropout and absenteeism rates among both groups.
Another
limitation stems from the fact that Minneapolis students are overrepresented.
In Minneapolis, every school participated, while in St. Paul the district
administration selected four schools for participation in the survey.
As a result, over threefourths of the survey respondents are from Minneapolis.
Moreover, it is possible that the schools selected in St. Paul may not
be completely representative of all the schools in the district. (The
selection process for the St. Paul schools was not inherently biased;
the primary criteria was to avoid overloading some schools that had
already been involved in many other surveys.)
In
addition to these limitations, several specific precautions must be
kept in mind as one reads the report:
- Recent
immigrants from Southeast Asia arc under-represented within the Asian
sample. The survey provided no information on the specific community
(for example, Chinese, Japanese, etc.) to which Asian students belonged.
In Minneapolis, however, Southeast Asian students are concentrated
at certain schools that offer Limited English Proficiency (LEP) programs.
- Survey
participation rates among Asian students were lowest precisely in
those schools having large concentrations of Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese
students. Many recent immigrants may not have been able to read or
understand the survey or may have refused to take it. Southeast Asians
are also under-represented because St. Paul, where only four schools
took part in the survey, has larger numbers of refugee families than
Minneapolis.
- The
Hispanic sample is more representative of Minneapolis than it is of
St. Paul. Only about one third of the Hispanic survey participants
were from St. Paul, even though it has the largest Hispanic community
in Minnesota. In St. Paul, only selected schools participated in the
survey and the schools chosen did not include large numbers of Hispanic
students.
- Disproportionately
high numbers of American Indian survey participants came from alternative
schools, which often serve youths who haven't done well within the
regular public schools. While 12 percent of American Indian students
within the Minneapolis system were enrolled in alternative schools,
18 percent of the American Indian survey sample came from alternative
schools. In contrast, for other racial/ ethnic groups, alternative
school students were slightly underrepresented in the final sample.
3.
Family Structure & Economic Status
According
to the 1980 census, poverty rates for families of color with school
age children are two to four times as high as for white families with
school-age children. The survey did not ask youths to report their family
income, in part because adolescents often do not have an accurate picture
of total family finances. The survey also did not ask about use of public
assistance programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
However, several other questions were asked that help us understand
the economic and social environment of the youths who participated in
the survey.
Family
Structure
Less
than two-thirds of youths (62%) lived in two-parent family structures.
In this report, two-parent families are defined as any families in which
both a mother and a father are present. Stepparents and adoptive parents
are included as well as biological parents. Forty-one percent (41 %)
of African American, 45% of American Indian, and 58% of both Hispanic
and Asian youths lived with both parents. (Table 1 )
One-third
of the adolescents in the survey lived with one parent, usually their
mother. In most cases, there were no other adults in the household besides
the single parent.
Five
percent of the adolescents lived in households in which neither parent
was present. This includes situations in which the adolescent was living
with relatives or unrelated friends, living in a foster home or group
home, or living alone. Sixteen percent of Asian youths and 12 percent
of American Indian youths lived in households with neither parent.
Employment
The
great majority of both mothers and fathers living at home with their
adolescent children were working. In households where the father was
present, 91 percent of the fathers were working. Similarly, in households
where the mother was present, 79 percent of the mothers were working.
The
percentage of mothers and fathers employed in African American, Hispanic
and white families was fairly similar. African American mothers had
the highest rate of full-time employment of any group. Employment was
lowest within Asian families (72% of fathers and 57% of mothers) and
American Indian families (81% of fathers and 70% of mothers).
Although
the level of employment was quite high among mothers and fathers living
in the household, there were many householdsparticularly within communities
of color-in which one or both parents was not present.
Consequently,
minority families were often not able to put as many adult workers into
the labor force as white families. In the entire sample, nearly half
of the families (47%) had two parents employed. However, only 44 percent
of Hispanic, 37 percent of Asian, 32 percent of African American and
30 percent of American Indian families had two parents in the work force.
A significant
number of youths lived in families in which no parent was working or
in which there was just one part-time worker. More than one-third of
Asian families (39%), over onefourth of American Indian (29%) and African
American families (26%), and nearly one-fifth of Hispanic families (19%)
had one part-time worker or no workers at all. Given the low wages available
for part time work, it is safe to assume that most of these families
were poor or near poor.
Percent
Receiving Free or Reduced-Price School Lunches
| African
American |
48.5% |
| Asian |
64.7% |
| Hispanic |
28.2% |
| White |
11.7% |
| American
Indian |
48.6% |
Residential
Mobility
Frequent
moving may add considerable stress to the family. It may mean loss of
friends or playmates, changes in school, and a reduced sense of stability
and rootedness in one place. Low-income families generally rent rather
than own their homes, and that adds to the likelihood of moving. In
each community of color, more than one-third of youths had moved in
the previous two years. In contrast, only 16 percent of white youths
had moved during the same period.
School
Lunch Program
Almost
two-thirds of Asian youths (65%), almost half of African American and
American Indian youths (49% each), and over one fourth of Hispanic youth
(28%) received free or reduced-price lunches at school. In contrast,
only 12 percent of white youths received free or reduced-price lunches.
Participation in the school lunch program is an indicator of income
level, since eligibility for free or reduced-price meals is limited
to families with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty level. As
an indicator of income, however, it is imperfect, since participation
is voluntary. Nevertheless, the high level of participation among adolescents
of color indicates that large numbers are from poor or working poor
families. As might be expected, school lunch participation is highest
among those families in which no parent is working, but among minority
families participation remains fairly high even when there is one full-time
adult worker. That so many youths with working parents are still eligible
suggests that their parents are working for relatively low wages.
In
the 1989-90 school year, a family of three with an income under $18,611
would be eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches. The cutoff
point for a family of four is $22,385.
Working
After School
More
than two of every five students said they worked during the school year
and almost 10 percent said they worked twenty hours or more at their
jobs. In each racial/ethnic group, girls were nearly as likely as boys
to have jobs but were less likely to have jobs that required twenty
or more hours per week.
Worries
and Concerns
One
of the common criticisms of young people is that their concerns are
often trivial, superficial, and short-term. The survey suggests, however,
that at the core youths are very much concerned with larger issues of
life and death, their economic future, and issues of justice and equality.
To
learn more about the worries and concerns of adolescents, those participating
in the survey were asked to indicate to what extent they worried about
twenty-five different items. Figure A lists the top worries for each
racial group and each gender.
The
concerns that were at or near the top of the list included school performance
("How I'm doing in school.") and parental loss ("One
of my parents dying."). Worries about getting AIDS, not being able
to get a good job, and personal appearance ("my looks") were
also mentioned frequently. As the list shows, adolescents of color expressed
high levels of worry about more items than did whites, and girls expressed
high Levels of worry about more items than did boys.
To
make sense out of the responses to these questions, items which dealt
with similar concerns were grouped together.
Jobs,
School and Poverty
Adolescents
of color consistently expressed higher Levels of worry than white adolescents
about future job prospects ("getting a good job when I'm older")
and their current economic condition ("my family not having enough
money to get by"). Youths from all groups were very concerned about
how well they were doing in school; again, the level of concern among
youths of color was particularly high.
Death
Adolescents
from each community of color were also significantly more likely than
white youths to express worry about death, as indicated by questions
dealing with one of their parents dying, their own death, or getting
AIDS. Among boys, for example, 51 percent of African Americans expressed
high levels of worry about one of their parents dying, compared to 33
percent of whites; 31 percent of African American males worried about
"dying soon," compared to 14 percent of white males.
Percent
Worried About "One of My Parents Dying."
| African
American |
51.6% |
| Asian |
48.3% |
| Hispanic |
47.4% |
| White |
35.6% |
| American
Indian |
54.3% |
Discrimination
Concern
about discrimination was very much alive. Minority youths were three
to seven times as likely as whites to say that they worried about racial
discrimination ("being unfairly treated because of my race or ethnic
group"). Forty-one percent (41 "/o) of Asian girls expressed
high levels of worry about discrimination compared to only 5 percent
of white girls.
Social
Concerns
Several
questions related to broad social concerns such as nuclear war, drugs,
poverty, and violence (for example: "All the drugs and drinking
I see around me," and "All the people who are hungry and poor
in our country") were combined into one measure called the social
concerns scale. Young people of color expressed worry about these kind
of issues significantly more often than did white youths. Girls also
said they worried about such issues more often than did boys.
Peer
Relations
In
contrast to the above questions, adolescents of color consistently said
they worried less than white youths about relationships with their friends
and peers, as indicated by concerns about "how well other kids
like me" or "losing my best friend." This group of questions
also revealed significant gender differences. In each racial/ethnic
group, girls expressed considerably more worry about relationships than
did boys.
Figure
A: Major Worries by Racial/Ethnic Group and Gender
(Items
are listed if the percent who worried "very much" or quite
a bit " exceeds 35%)
White
Males
How I'm doing in school 47%
My looks 37.2%
African
American Males
How I'm doing in school 57.4%
One of my parents dying 50.7%
Getting AIDS 42.8%
Not being able to get good job when l'm older 40.3%
My looks 38.5%
Not passing benchmark test 35.9%
White
Females
How I'm doing in school 56.6%
My looks 56.2%
Losing my best friend 42.9%
How my friends treat me 40.0%
One of my purents dying 38.3%
How well other kids like me 38.2%
African
American Females
How I'm doing in school 60.3%
One of my parents dying 52.3%
My looks 44.5% Not passing benchmark test 43.5%
Getting AIDS 39.8%
All the hungry and poor people in our country 38%
Getting pregnant 36.5%
Not being able to get good job when I'm older 35.4%
Arnerican
Indian Males
One of my parents dying 53.4%
How I'm doing in school 52.3%
Getting AIDS 46.6%
Not being able to get good job when I'm older 42.1%
Losing my best friend 39%
My looks 38.6%
Asian
Males
How I'm doing in school 63.7%
One of my parents dying 46.1%
Not being able to get good job when I'm older 43.8%
All the poor and hungry people in our country 41.9%
Not passing benchmark test 41.4%
Getting AIDS 37.6%
Whether my body is growing in a normal way 37.6%
My family not having enough money to get by 36.2%
Losing my best friend 35.0%
Hispanic
Males
How I'm doing in school 51.5%
One of my parents dying 47.3%
Not being able to get good job when I'm older 40.2%
Getting AIDS 40.2%
My looks 39.2%
Losing my best friend 37.7%
Not passing benchmark test 35.8%
American
Indian Females
How I'm doing in school 55.6%
One of my parents dying 55.1%
My looks 50.3%
Getting AIDS 41.5%
Not passing benchmark test 40.2%
Losing my best friend 38.5% Not being able to get good job when I'm
older 36.2%
Asian
Females
How I'm doing in school 71.3%
Not passing benchmark test 55.6%
Not being able to get good job when I'm older 52.6%
One of my parents dying 50.9%
All the poor and hungry people in our country 49.7%
My looks 49.6%
Losing my best friend 46.6%
All the violence that happens in our country 42%
Whether my body is growing in a normal way 41.4%
My family not having enough money to get by 41.3%
Being unfairly treated because of my race 40.7%
How well other kids like me 38.6%
Getting AIDS 37.5%
How my friends treat me 35.7%
Hispanic
Females
How I'm doing in school 59.6%
My looks 55.9%
One of my parents dying 47.4%
Losing my best friend 41.9%
Geting AIDS 36.3%
Not passing benchmark test 35.6%
4.
Emotional Stress
The
survey included many questions designed to explore the emotional and
psychological well-being of the child. Seventeen questions dealing with
nervousness, depression, anxiety and unhappiness were combined to create
an "emotional stress" scale. Answers to these questions were
averaged and survey participants were then divided into groups experiencing
high, medium, and low levels of emotional stress.
Slightly
more than one of every five youths reported "high" levels
of stress as measured by the emotional stress scale. There were no substantial
differences among racial groups, although Hispanics were slightly more
likely than others to report high levels of stress. However, girls in
each racial/ethnic group reported much greater emotional stress than
boys. Among African American and Asian youth, for example, girls were
twice as likely as boys to report high levels of stress.
The
survey also found that, for all racial groups except American Indians,
senior high students perceived greater emotional stress than junior
high students.
But
while there were few differences among racial groups on the emotional
stress scale, there were differences on some of the individual questions
that make up the scale. For example, adolescents of color were consistently
more likely than whites to say they felt bored ("there is nothing
to do") or that their daily lives were uninteresting. Forty-four
percent of African American girls and 40 percent of American Indian
girls said they were bored much of the time or all of the time. Compared
to white youths, young people of color more often said they did not
feel in control of their behavior, thoughts and emotions. They also
expressed more frequent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. In each
of these questions, girls expressed more frequent feelings of boredom,
lack of control, sadness and hopelessness than boys.
Physical
and Sexual Abuse
Physical
or sexual abuse is not in itself an indicator or measure of emotional
health, but abusive events or patterns can present severe challenges
to the physical, mental and emotional well-being of adolesccnts. The
Adolescent Health Survey asked youths if they had ever been sexually
or physically abused. No further questions were asked to probe further
into the nature or severity of the abuse. The results serve as a preliminary
indication of the number of youths who felt that they had been abused
at some point in their lives.
Girls
were several times more likely than boys to report either kind of abuse.
Roughly one in thirty boys (3.2%) and one of every six girls (17.1%)
said they had been sexually abused. One of every fifteen boys (6.4%)
and one of every six girls (16.0%) reported having been physically abused.
Asian girls indicated less abuse than girls from other racial/ethnic
groups. Otherwise, there were no consistent differences among racial
groups.
5.
Physical Health
Most
youths rated their own health as good or excellent, and there were few
differences among racial groups. One exception was American Indian youths,
who were somewhat more likely than others to say that their health was
only "fair" or "poor". Across all racial groups,
girls were more likely than boys to rate their health as "fair"
or "poor."
Body
Image
Most
youths also had positive body images. Two questions-"How satisfied
are you with your weight" and "how proud are you of your body"-were
used to indicate how youths felt about their bodies. Girls were more
than twice as likely as boys (43 percent to 20 percent) to report having
a negative body image. This 2-to-1 ratio prevailed in each racial group
as well, indicating that girls' perceptions of their bodies are influenced
by powerful cultural forces that cut across racial lines.
Health
Problems
Participants
in the survey were asked if they had ever had certain serious or chronic
health problems. The list included: diabetes; low-blood sugar; sickle
cell anemia; hypertension; epilepsy; scoliosis; arthritis; attention
deficit syndrome; speech problems; cerebral palsy; and muscular dystrophy
or other bodily handicap. About 30 percent of the youths said they had
had or still have at least one of these conditions, and 10 percent had
two or more. There were few differences among racial groups or between
boys and girls.
Participants
were also asked if they had over experienced certain symptomatic or
occasional health problems. The list included the following: anemia;
mononucleosis; breathing problems (like wheezing or asthma); bladder
or kidney problems; allergies or hay fever; accidental poisoning; bad
ear aches or runny ears; and sexually transmitted diseases. Several
of these health problems arc sometimes associated with nervousness or
emotional turmoil. Overall, 62 percent said they had experienced at
least one of these problems, and 34 percent had experienced two or more.
Moreover, across all racial groups, girls were twice as likely as boys
to report multiple problems. Just as girls reported greater emotional
stress than boys, it appears that they are also susceptible to physical
health problems that are related to emotional stress.
Use
of Health Care
A routine
physical check-up is one of the cornerstones of preventive health care.
Ten percent of the adolescents surveyed said they had seen neither a
doctor nor a dentist for a check-up in the past two years. Lack of preventive
check-ups was much more common among minority youth. Twenty-six percent
of Asian, 18 percent of American Indian, 16 percent of African American,
and 10 percent of Hispanic youth had seen neither a doctor nor a dentist
for a check-up in the past two years, compared to only 7 percent of
white youth.
6.
Suicide and Suicidal Thoughts
Suicide
among Minnesota's youth has increased sharply in the past few years.
But the number who actually kill themselves is only a small fraction
of those who have attempted suicide or have thought seriously about
it.
Suicidal
thoughts and attempts are important concerns in themselves, but they
also indicate a significant degree of depression, turmoil, and emotional
stress within the individual. Adolescents who are experiencing high
levels of emotional stress (as measured by the emotional stress scale
discussed in Chapter 4 of this report) were far more likely than others
to think about suicide or report actual attempts. The connection between
emotional stress and suicide risk was consistently strong across all
racial groups. Exploring suicidal thoughts and gestures thus provides
another way to look at emotional health.
One
of every eight youths responding to the survey said they had tried to
kill themselves at some point in their lives. For each racial/ethnic
group, girls were consistently more likely than boys to report suicide
attempts. There were few differences among racial groups, except for
Hispanic girls, who had the highest suicide attempt rate (22 percent).
One
of every twenty youths said they had made an attempt within the past
year. Again, girls were generally more likely than boys to report recent
attempts. Hispanic girls had the highest attempt rate within the past
year (9 percent).
It
is impossible for a survey of this kind to discover precisely what youths
actually did when they said they had tried to kill themselves. What
is important, however, is the fact that the child perceives thatthey
have taken serious steps in that direction.
Percent
at High Risk for Suicide
(as indicated by recent attempts and suicidal thoughts)
| African
American |
13.5% |
| Asian |
14.4% |
| Hispanic |
16.2% |
| White |
9.3% |
| American
Indian |
13.5%
|
Suicide
Risk
Information
on suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts were combined to obtain an
overall suicide risk score. Youths were considered to be "high
risk" if they said they had attempted suicide in the past year
or if they agreed that "I would like to kill myself" or "I
would kill myself if I had the chance." Again, such statements
do not necessarily mean that the youth has a definite intent or a plan
to commit suicide, but they do at a minimum indicate serious levels
of depression and hopelessness.
Suicide
risk scores were quite high in each community of color. Sixteen percent
of Hispanic, and 14 percent of African American, American Indian, and
Asian youth fell into the "high risk" group, compared to 9
percent of white youth. Unlike the data on reported attempts, there
were no sharp differences between boys and girls on the suicide risk
measure which includes both suicidal attempts and thoughts.
For
most racial groups, recent suicide attempts and suicide risk scores
were higher among junior high students than among senior high students.
The only clear exception is among Asian youth. In fact, Asian students
in senior high school were more likely to be in the high suicide risk
group (18.2%) than any other racial/ethnic group at either grade level.
7.
Chemical Use
Experience
with chemical use was quite high among students who participated in
the survey. Almost two-thirds (65%) said they had used alcohol at least
once, 44 percent had tried tobacco, and 35 percent had tried marijuana.
Many children who had tried different drugs were no longer using them
or were using them only occasionally. However, the number of current
and regular users is still quite impressive, considering that the survey
includes children as young as seventh-graders. Overall, one in five
(21%) said they used alcohol "weekly" or "daily,"
one in four (24%) used tobacco weekly or more often, and one in ten
(10%) used marijuana weekly or more often. This section focuses on these
current and regular users rather on those who have tried chemicals on
an experimental or casual basis or who are no longer using them.
Regular
use of either cigarettes or chewing tobacco was very high among American
Indian youths. Nearly half of Indian girls (48%) and over one-third
of Indian boys (38%) said they used tobacco "weekly" or "daily."
White and Hispanic youths were also frequent users; roughlyone-fourth
of the young people in each of these groups smoked or chewed tobacco
on a weekly or daily basis In contrast, use of tobacco and tobacco products
was not common at all among African Americans and Asians. For example,
African American youths were only half as likely as white youths to
be regular tobacco users.
For
all racial groups except Asians, girls were more likely to be regular
tobacco users than boys.
Experimentation
with tobacco appears to begin at a fairly young age. The great majority
of youths who had over tried tobacco had already done so by the time
they were in junior high school. Regular use, as opposed to experimental
or casual use, appears to gain more momentum in senior high school.
However, regular use among American Indian and white students was already
reaching serious levels within junior high schools. More than one third
(38%) of American Indian junior high students and one-fifth (20%) of
white junior high students used tobacco regularly.
Drinking
beer, wine or hard liquor was almost as widespread as smoking cigarettes
or chewing tobacco. American Indian and white adolescents were the most
frequent users of alcohol according to the survey. For both groups,
slightly over one-fourth of the boys and over one-fifth of the girls
said they drank alcohol "weekly" or "daily." Hispanics
youths also drank quite often. Once again, African Americans and Asians
recorded the lowest level of regular use, as well as the largest number
of non-drinkers. For example, weekly or daily drinking by African American
youths occurred only about half as often as by white youths. One of
every nine African American youths and only one of every twenty Asian
youths drank on a regular basis.
Youths
who said they used alcohol were also asked how much they consumed at
any one time. When information on frequency of use is combined with
information on the amount consumed at one time, the new measure of "alcohol
problem use" shows that American Indians and whites, are drinking
more than any other group. Overall, 26 percent of American Indian boys
and 22 percent of white boys scored "very high" on the combined
alcohol problem index. "Very high" users are those who either
drink "daily" or who drink monthly or more often and consume
six or more drinks when they do so. African Americans and Asians again
reported the lowest number of students scoring "very high"
on the alcohol problem index.
Within
each racial/ethnic group, boys drank more often than girls. Regular
drinking was also far more common among senior high students compared
to junior high students. At the senior high Level, roughly one-third
of American Indian, white and Hispanic students were drinking at least
weekly or more often.
Marijuana
More
than one of every five American Indian boys (23 percent) and girls (21
percent) said they used marijuana "weekly" or "daily."
Roughly one of every seven Hispanic youth (15%) and one of every ten
white and African American youths were regular users. Hardly any Asian
students (2%) said they used marijuana. As with alcohol, marijuana was
used slightly more often by boys than by girls, and was far more prevalent
in senior high schools than in junior high. Among junior high students,
American Indians were twice as likely to report regular use of marijuana
(16%) than any other racial/ethnic group.
Cocaine
and Crack
Few
students said they were current or frequent users of cocaine or crack.
Only 2.4 percent of senior high students and 0.7 percent of junior high
students were using cocaine or crack once a month or more often. Of
course, adolescents who had dropped out of school are not counted here
and could conceivably be more likely to use these drugs.
However,
though few students were using cocaine or crack regularly, there were
larger numbers who had some exposure in the past. Native American and
Hispanic students were mostly likely to report having tried crack or
cocaine at Least once in their lives. White students also reported exposure
that was slightly above average for the total sample. African American
and Asian students had the Least exposure to crack or cocaine.
Percent
Who Tried Cocaine or Crack at Least Once
| African
American |
4.0% |
| American
Indian |
13.3% |
| Asian |
2.5% |
| Hispanic |
10.4% |
| White |
7.7% |
| Total
Sample |
6.8% |
Parents'
Chemical Use
To
learn more about the use of chemical substances within the home, students
were asked how often one or both of their parents used tobacco, alcohol,
or marijuana.
Tobacco
use, either cigarettes or chewing tobacco, was very common in virtually
all racial/ethnic groups. Nearly two thirds (63%) of American Indian
youths said at least one of their parents used tobacco "weekly"
or "daily". Roughly half of the white, African American, and
Hispanic youths but only one-fifth of Asian youths said their parents
were regular users.
Alcohol
was most frequently consumed by the parents of white youths. Forty-four
percent of whites said at Least one of their parents drank beer, wine
or hard liquor weekly or daily. In contrast, 36 percent of Hispanics,
31 percent of African Americans, and only 23 percent of American Indians
said at Least one of their parents used alcohol regularly. With one
exception, these results suggest that adults drink much more frequently
than adolescents. In the American Indian community, the percentage of
regular drinkers, as re-ported by survey participants, was about the
same for parents and adolescents.
Regular
marijuana use was not as high among parents as among children. About
one in ten African American youths (10%) and one in fourteen Hispanic
youths (7%) said that at least one of their parents used marijuana weekly
or daily. Reported use by American Indian parents was quite low (5%).
Another
way to approach this issue of chemical use at home is through youths'
perceptions of problems that might be caused by parent's chemical use.
Participants in the survey were asked if one or both parents had ever
had problems because of drinking or drugs in the past five years. (The
question made no reference to problems stemming from tobacco use.)
American
Indian youths reported problems most frequently; 34 percent answered
"yes" to this question. One of every four Hispanics (26%),
one of every five whites (19%) and one of every six African Americans
(17%) also reported problems. In contrast, only 6 percent of Asian youths
said their parents had experienced drinking or drug problems.
Accident
Risk
Accidental
injury, primarily due to car crashes, is one of the leading causes of
death among adolescents. The survey asked several questions about behavior
that increases the likelihood of serious injury through motor vehicle
accidents.
Eleven
percent of boys and seven percent of girls reported that they sometimes
drive after drinking or taking drugs. Among boys, driving while potentially
under the influence of alcohol or drugs was most frequent among Hispanics
(14%) and whites (13%). Among girls, whites were significantly more
likely to engage in this risky behavior than other racial/ethnic groups.
One
of every five white, Hispanic, and American Indian youths also said
that they "sometimes" or "often" go riding with
a driver who has been drinking or taking drugs. Girls were just as likely
as boys to say that they ride with an intoxicated or potentially intoxicated
driver.
African
American and Asian youths were far less likely to either drive after
drinking or taking drugs or to ride with someone who might be intoxicated.
8.
Pregnancy and Pregnancy Risk
One
of every twelve girls participating in the survey said they were currently
pregnant or had been pregnant at least once in their lives. Becoming
pregnant was more common among African American (17%), Hispanic (10%)
and American Indian girls (9%), and less common among white (6%) and
Asian (3%) girls. Within each community of color, most girls who had
been pregnant had decided to carry the pregnancy through to birth and
raise the child. Most white girls, on the
other hand, had obtained an abortion.
Among
boys, 10 percent of African Americans, and 9 percent of Hispanics and
American Indians said that they had gotten someone pregnant.
Becoming
pregnant or getting someone pregnant affected twice as many senior high
students as junior high students. Nearly one in four African American
senior high girls (23%) said they had been pregnant at least once, compared
to 10 percent of African American junior high girls.
While
programs to help teenage mothers stay in school have expanded in recent
years, it is important to note that many pregnant girls and teenage
mothers still drop out of school and so would not be included in this
survey. Thus, the survey results may underestimate the actual incidence
of pregnancy within the entire youth population.
The
likelihood of becoming pregnant depends in part on the frequency of
sexual intercourse and the frequency and effectiveness of birth control
measures, if any, used by the couple. Nearly half of sexually active
boys and nearly 40 percent of sexually-activc girls reported that they
do not always use birth control. Failure to usebirth control was somewhat
higher among minority adolescents.
Information
obtained from the survey was combined to create a pregnancy risk scale,
which indicates the risk of becoming pregnant or of getting someone
pregnant. Youths were defined as being in the high risk group if they
reported having intercourse at least several times per week and did
not "always" use effective birth control, or if they had intercourse
several times per month and used birth control "sometimes."
Percent
of Girls Who Have Been Pregnant
| |
Jr
High |
Sr
High |
| African
American |
9.7% |
22.7% |
| Asian |
.7% |
6.0% |
| Hispanic |
3.9% |
14.3% |
| White |
4.3% |
7.8% |
| American
Indian |
3.9% |
19.0% |
Overall,
one in ten girls (10%) and almost one of every six boys (15%) were in
the high risk group for becoming pregnant or getting someone pregnant.
As with actual pregnancy, the percentage of youths falling into the
high risk group for pregnancy was highest among African Americans, American
Indians, and Hispanics, and was lowest for Asians. For each racial group,
boys were more likely to fall into the high-risk group than girls, and
in some cases the differences were large.
9.
Connections with Family, Adults, & Friends
After
considering the worries, thoughts, feelings, and behavior of adolescents,
we turn now to the people and institutions to which young people relate.
Chapter 9 explores relationships with family members, friends, and adults,
while Chapter 10 looks at the adolescent's relationship to school.
Relationships
with family members, friends, and adults deeply affect the health and
well-being of adolescents. Strong relationships can provide critical
support, nurture, and guidance during this period of growth and transition.
At their worst, however, relationships with family members and other
significant persons can lead to greater stress, alienation and disillusionment.
Contrary
to the prevalent image of the "disintegrating family," the
survey found signs of strength in family relationships.
