Protective Assets for Non-use of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs among Urban American Indian Youth in Oklahoma

Objective This study explored associations between nine youth assets and tobacco, alcohol and other drug non-use among participating American Indian adolescents. Methods Data from 134 American Indians, ages 13–19 years, participating in an inner-city youth asset study, were analyzed. Individual logistic regression analyses were conducted, controlling for demographic variables, with nine youth assets as the independent variables and alcohol, tobacco and other drug non-use as the dependent variables. Results Among American Indian youth, nearly 79% reported not using alcohol in the past 30 days. The prevalence of tobacco non-use was somewhat lower than that of alcohol, with 71% reporting not using tobacco in the past 30 days. For other drug non-use, 87% reported not using other drugs in the past 30 days. The non-parental adult role models asset was significantly associated with non-use of alcohol (OR = 4.4, 95% CI 1.5–13.3), tobacco (OR = 7.5, 95% CI 2.2–25.6), and other drugs (OR = 5.0, 95% CI 1.5–16.8). The use of time (religion) asset was also significantly associated with alcohol non-use (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.1–7.2). The family communication asset was associated only with other drug non-use (OR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.02–9.4). For tobacco non-use, an interaction was observed between family structure and the good health practices (exercise/nutrition) asset. Among youth in single-parent households, the odds of tobacco non-use were 4.4 times greater among those who possessed the good health practices (exercise/nutrition) asset. Conclusions Despite the relatively small sample size of American Indian youth, these results suggest an important role for specific youth assets in the prevention of substance abuse among American Indian youth.