PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES OF MISCONDUCT AMONG ETHNICALLY DIVERSE ADOLESCENTS OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN/ PART-HAWAIIAN AND NON-HAWAIIAN ANCESTRY EARL S. HISHINUMA, RONALD C. JOHNSON, S. PETER KIM, STEPHANIE T. NISHIMURA, GEORGE K. MAKINI, JR., NALEEN N. ANDRADE, ALAYNE YATES, DEBORAH A. GOEBERT, GREGORY Y. MARK, DAVID T. MAYEDA & LINDA A. REVILLA ABSTRACT Background: Research on the prevalence and correlates of adolescent mis- conduct, arrests, and juvenile delinquency has been greatly neglected for the ethnically diverse adolescent groups in Hawai‘i (i.e. Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders). Aims: The aims of the present study are three-fold: (1) to determine whether there are differential rates of adolescent misconduct based on ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic (SES) factors; (2) on an exploratory basis, to ascertain the demographic, social-cultural, psychological-psychiatric, and school-related cor- relates of misconduct, with some focus on cultural identification; and (3) to derive a parsimonious model of the correlates for an ethnically diverse group of adolescents by disentangling cultural identification from other variables including ethnicity. Methods: Data were analyzed from the Native Hawaiian Mental Health Research Development Program, consisting of 2,732 Asian/Pacific Islander youths. Mis- conduct was operationally defined as ‘was arrested or got in serious trouble with the law’ within the past six months via adolescent self-report. Of added importance were the inclusion of a valid measure of Hawaiian cultural identifica- tion and actual school data. Results: Significantly higher rates were obtained for Native Hawaiians, males, and adolescents whose main wage earners’ educational attainment was at the high school level or less. Absences may be a more important marker for females than males in the prediction of arrests and serious trouble with the law. The most parsimonious model of self-reported arrests/serious trouble with the law con- sisted of four variables in the following order of importance: substance use, actual grade-point average, aggressive symptoms, and gender. Conclusion: This is one of the first major studies to examine the prevalence and risk-protective factors of misconduct for adolescents of Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry, and the first to include a valid measure of cultural identification and actual school data. The findings indicated that gender-specific prevention and intervention programs are needed. However, the issues are also complex whereby the use of substances, school performance, and aggression must be International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Copyright & 2005 Sage Publications (London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi) www.sagepublications.com Vol 51(3): 242–258. DOI: 10.1177/0020764005057371 by guest on April 22, 2016 isp.sagepub.com Downloaded from