Psychiatric symptoms of Hawaiian adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationship of depressive symptoms with symptoms of anxiety, aggression, and substance abuse in Native Hawaiian adolescents. A total of 1,819 Native Hawaiian students were recruited from three high schools as part of the initial phase of an ongoing, 4-year, longitudinal, cross-sequential study. Psychiatric symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory (SAI), Braver Aggression Dimension Scale (BADS), and Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-Abbreviated (SASSI-A). Scales were standardized for this minority population. Depressive symptoms were strongly associated with symptoms of anxiety and aggression but only weakly associated with self-reported substance abuse. Girls had substantially higher scores than boys on all scales. Ninth graders reported more aggressive symptoms than did 12th graders. The educational level of the adolescent's main caregiver was not associated with symptoms reported in any of the scales. Native Hawaiian adolescents report similar symptoms and symptom clusters as do adolescents on the mainland U.S. However, Native Hawaiian adolescent girls report a greater number of symptoms in all categories when compared to boys. This distinguishes them from most mainland adolescent populations.