Introduction Asian Americans have consistently been shown to have a relatively low rate of substance abuse among all ethnic groups in the United States (Kim, Ziedonis, & Chen, 2007). Indeed, studies suggest that Asian American youth are more vulnerable to emotional and social difficulties than youth of other races or ethnicities (Wong et al. 1998). As an immigrant group, Asian American youth often face acculturation-related stressors such as low self-esteem, high depression, anxiety, and social isolation, and increasingly studies have reported various behavioral problems among Asian American youth, such as gang activities (Zhang, 2002). , a rapid increase in juvenile crime (Le, 2002) and a significant increase in violence. Substance use among Asian American youth remains at a low level. However, a recent study indicates that there has been an increasing trend in substance abuse among Asian American youth. Asian American youth have been shown to have the highest level of alcohol use among racial and ethnic groups examined (Kim et al., 1995), and smoking rates among Vietnamese American adolescents (37.7%) have been found to close to the smoking rate among Vietnamese American adult males (43.2%) (Wiecha, 1996). In terms of ecstasy use, although use declined after 2002, since 2005 it has been increasingly used among youth, and Asian Americans have been found to have the second highest rate of ecstasy use among all ethnic groups ( McCabe et al., 2007). , as well as the fastest increase in usage rates among all four major ethnic groups (White, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American and Pacific Islander) (Strote et al., 2002). To summarize, findings from studies on substance use among Asian American youth are inconsistent. The pu...... middle of paper ......), 831–840. doi:10.1007/s10903-012-9593-7Wong, FY, Huang, ZJ, Thompson, EE, De Leon, JM, Shah, MS, Park, RJ, & Do,TD 2007 Substance Use in a Sample of Foreign Nationals and Americans Asians born in the Southeast in an urban context. Journal of Physicalty in Substance Abuse, 6(1), 45–66.Wiecha, John M. 1996. “Differences in Patterns of Tobacco Use in Vietnamese, African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian Adolescents in Worcester, Massachusetts.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 12(1): 29–37. Wong, Paul, Chienping Faith Lai, Richard Nagasawa, and Tieming Lin. 1998. “Asian Americans as a Model Minority: Self-Perceptions and Perceptions of Other Racial Groups.” Sociological Perspectives, 41(1): 95–118. Zhang, Sheldon X. 2002. “Chinese Gangs: Family and Cultural Dynamics.” 219–36 in Gangs in America III, edited by C. Ronald Huff. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.