progression. DuBois and colleagues (DuBois, Burk-Braxton, et al., 2002) found no

significant differences between African American and European American children (5th

and 6th grades), but in early adolescents (7th and 8th grades) African Americans had

significantly higher ethnic identity. This change in only a matter of one to two years of

development may also play a role in the influence of ethnic identity to mood related

symptoms.

 Research with high school students has demonstrated many of the previous

findings in this area (Arroyo & Zigler, 1995; Rotherman-Borus, 1989). It is possible that

the influence of ethnic identity on mental health does not manifest until further along the

developmental path. Previous research has demonstrated that early during the

development of ethnic identity (i.e., exploration and increasing ethnic awareness),

adolescents can actually have increases in anxiety and depression (Rotheram-Borus,

1989). Stages of development were not assessed in this study; rather a general measure of

level of ethnic identity achievement was measured. It is possible that these differences,

which were not detectable with the measurement technique used in this study, clouded

the accuracy of the findings.

 Ethnic identity was negatively related to alcohol/drug use. This finding validates

previous studies that have found ethnic identity to be protective against substance use in

minority adolescents (Scheier et al., 1997; Brook, Balka, et al., 1998; Brook, Whiteman,

et al., 1998). However, the results from these studies were varied based on the type of

substance and the ethnic group.

 This study measured the overall influence of ethnic identity on any difficulties

related to substance use and found it to be predictive. This finding was found for the