Risk and Protective Factors of Alcohol Use Identified by Community Providers and Stakeholders in Hawai‘i: Qualitative Data Analysis

• Published in: Hawai'i journal of medicine & public health 2018-08, Vol.77 (8), p.183-187
• Main Authors: Garza, Codie M, Nigg, Claudio R, Konishi, Minami, An, Ji-Young, Wagner, Allison F, Goya, Danilyn K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2165-8218; 2165-8242

The purpose of this study was to identify community providers' perspectives on risk and protective factors for youth alcohol use in Hawai‘i to inform future trainings of providers. A total of 104 providers within communities and prevention organizations in Hawai‘i were asked to list risk and protective factors for underage drinking in each of the socioecological levels (individual, family, community, and society). The majority of participants were female (66.3%). Overall, 507 risk and protective factors were listed. There were significantly more risk factors identified (54.8%) than protective factors (45.2%). Participants identified significantly fewer society level risk and protective factors than all other levels. The top three overall themes identified by participants were resources (8.3%), peer influence (7.7%), and family function (6.9%). These results not only provide information about how providers conceptualize substance abuse, but may also indicate that it is necessary to continue training providers in how to identify society level factors influencing individuals' substance use. It is recommended that more research should be conducted with community providers in Hawai‘i to understand the attitudes about prevention in the community. Such research may allow for improvements in prevention strategies by providing a larger picture of substance use in the community.