NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teens who have role models, especially ones close to them, seem to have more self-esteem, higher grades and a stronger sense of ethnic identity, the results of a new study suggest.

And for some adolescents, having a role model might cut the odds of substance abuse, according to the report published in the January issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers say the findings highlight the importance of helping young people find appropriate role models, especially lower-income teens who, in this study, were less likely to have a role model at all.

Dr. Antronette K. Yancey, of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the University of California Los Angeles, led the study.

Her team surveyed a racially diverse group of 749 adolescents, aged 12 to 17. The teens answered questions on who their role models were, school performance, risky health behaviors such as drug use, and self-esteem.

More than half of white, Latino and African-American teens--and 56% overall--said they had a role model. The higher the family income level, the more likely a teen was to have a role model.

A majority (42%) named a parent or relative as their role model, while 39% named a ``figure,'' such as a sports star, musician, actor or politician. Nineteen percent said their role model was someone they knew outside their family, such as a friend, doctor, teacher or clergy member.

The investigators found that teens with any role model fared better in school and had greater self-esteem than those with no role model.

And the combination of having no role model and no father at home was associated with the highest rate of substance abuse, according to the report. This was especially true of white males, for whom having a role model in the absence of a father reduced the likelihood of substance abuse, the researchers note.

As for ethnic identity, it was strongest among teens who actually knew their role model.

But boys and lower-income teens overall were more likely to pick a role model from the media than from people they knew, the survey showed.

``Needless to say, the opportunity for a role model to have a positive influence is severely limited without direct personal contact,'' the authors point out. ``It is sobering to note that 31 teens (7%) named doctors, lawyers, teachers or clergy members as role models, while 142 teens (34%) named sports figures, singers, or actors.''

Yancey's team concludes that since many at-risk teens may not have a person in their lives to emulate, more needs to be done to ensure that ethnically diverse role models are available to adolescents.

``Aside from their families,'' Yancey and colleagues note, ''teens are choosing media 'products' to emulate rather than the responsible, professional adults to whom they are or should be exposed.''

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2002;156:55-61.

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