Replication of a problem behavior model with American Indian, Hispanic, and Caucasian youth

The replicability of a model of family and peer influences on adolescent pr oblem behavior was evaluated with samples of adolescent boys and girls from three ethnic groups: American Indians, Hispanics, and Caucasians. Particip ants were 1,450 seventh-grade students from 16 communities The model includ ed links between three aspects of family functioning (family conflict, posi tive family relations, and inadequate parental monitoring) and adolescents' association with deviant peers. Those variables were hypothesized predicto rs of adolescents' problem behavior (antisocial behavior; poor school perfo rmance, and frequency of substance use). The resulting cross-sectional mode l shelved good consistency across the three ethnic groups for both genders, but some subgroup differences emerged in the magnitude of relations betwee n monitoring and adolescents' associations with deviant peers and between s ubstance use and the problem behavior construct. With those qualifications, the model was applicable to Hispanic and Native American adolescents in th e sample.