On the 2003 Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Survey, students were asked to indicate which ethnic background described them best. Choices included:

1. Japanese
2. White
3. Filipino
4. Native Hawaiian
5. Chinese
6. Korean
7. Indo-Chinese
8. Vietnamese
9. Samoan
10. Portuguese
11. Black
12. Hispanic
13. Indian/Alaska Native
14. Other Asian and
15. Other Pacific Islander

Students could choose more than one answer, but were encouraged to select the answer with which they most strongly identified. Students were orally told that the answer "Native Hawaiian" meant that they had Native Hawaiian blood and not that they merely lived in Hawaii. From a racial standpoint, Asians represented the largest racial group (46.3%), followed by Pacific Islanders (20.6%), and Whites (15.3%). Blacks, Hispanics, Indians or Native Alaskans represented less than 3% of the population each, and approximately 13% of the population was multi-racial. Asians primarily consisted of Filipinos (48%), Japanese (34%), Chinese (10%), Koreans (4%), Vietnamese (2%), and Other Asian (2%). Pacific Islanders were primarily Native Hawaiian (70%), Followed by Samoan (14%), and other Pacific Islanders (16%).

Reports were developed only for racial/ethnic groups that represented at least 2% of the study sample and include only those students who chose one ethnic/racial group. With the exception of the report for White students, reports were produced for ethnic groups rather, than racial groups. This choice was made because ethnic groups within large racial categories (e.g., Asians or Pacific Islanders) are typically quite different from one another on substance use prevalence rates and risk and protective profiles.

For additional discussion on ethnic/racial differences, please refer to the comprehensive report, The 2003 Hawaii Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Study (1987-2003): Hawaii Adolescent Prevention and Treatment Needs Assessment, which is located throughout the Hawaii State library system.

Hawaii Department of Health
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division
601 Kamokila Blvd. Room 360
Kapolei, Hawai'i, 96707
(808) 692-7506