sample as a whole. It was not found specifically for the minority adolescents. There are

several possible reasons why this may have occurred. One possibility is the presence of

white-ethnics, those who strongly identify with their European country of origin.

Unfortunately, subgroups within the European American participants were not

specifically identified, and it is therefore not possible to determine if this may have

influenced the findings. Another factor, that was not directly assessed, was the possible

minority status of the European American adolescents in some of the schools. Phinney

(1992) found that ethnic identity was associated with self-esteem for white high school

students when they were the minority in the school. A final reason that could explain why

this construct predicted substance use for all of the adolescents could relate to self-

esteem. A positive self-concept could be partially reflected by higher scores on the ethnic

identity measure. This could be true since many of the items reflect positive attitudes

toward one's ethnic group membership.

 The predicted moderation model including ethnic mentors and their influence on

the relationship between ethnic identity and mental health outcomes was not supported.

In reference to adverse mood symptoms, this was probably not supported due to the lack

of a significant relationship between ethnic identity and this outcome. However, this

model was also not supported when there was a significant relationship (i.e., prediction

of substance use). It is possible that ethnic mentors do have an effect on adolescents in

different domains (e.g., self-esteem). The practice of matching mentors and mentees

based on ethnicity, gender, and interests is still considered standard. Although, this

makes intuitive sense, more research is needed to explain the mechanism by which these

relationships may influence adolescents and in what domains.