Social factors associated with ethnic differences in alcohol and marijuana use by Vietnamese-, Arabic- and English-speaking youths in Sydney, Australia.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the use of marijuana and alcohol among Arabic- and Vietnamese-speaking senior school students compared with English-speaking background senior school students in Sydney Australia.


METHODS
A quantitative survey of 2573 school students attending Years 10 and 11 from 12 high schools with a high Vietnamese and Arabic population was conducted in Sydney in 1998. Self-reported marijuana use, school and cultural background information was collected.


RESULTS
Students from an English-speaking background, both males and females, had almost double the prevalence of marijuana use (once or more) during their lifetime (48.3 and 43.6%), the 12 months (40.9 and 36.3%) and 1 month prior to survey administration (23.1 and 13.4%) than the group with the second highest frequency of use (students of European and other backgrounds). Female Vietnamese (7.3% lifetime use) and Arabic students (8.6% lifetime use) had the lowest marijuana use rates, which were less than half that of male Vietnamese (23.5% lifetime use) and Arabic students (28% lifetime use). A similar pattern was found for three types of alcohol use. Spending three or more evenings a week out with friends was associated with higher alcohol use for Vietnamese students (relative risk ratio of 2.76).


CONCLUSIONS
These results confirm lower marijuana and alcohol use among students from Vietnamese- and Arabic-speaking backgrounds compared with students from an English-speaking background. Harm minimization strategies may be learned from some migrant communities.
Rissel
C
C
Needs Assessment and Health Outcomes Unit, Central Sydney Area Health Service, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. criss@nah.rpa.cs.nsw.gov.au
McLellan
L
L
Bauman
A
A
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D018912:Arabs; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology