The proposed project is a longitudinal survey of American Indian students (grades 9-12). The survey is intended to establish the prevalence of alcohol use and abuse within these settings, as well as to shed light on the relative contribution of specific phenomena--notably, stressful life events, coping strategies, social support, self-esteem, socialization, personality factors, perceived environment--to these outcomes and to school-related problems such as disciplinary incidents and dropout. The proposed study has the following specific aims: 1) To assess the symbolic meaning of alcohol among American Indian adolescents and their primary socialization groups. 2) To develop reliable and valid measures of alcohol use/abuse and predictors of such use appropriate for American Indian adolescents. 3) To study the epidemiology of alcohol use and abuse among a large, diverse group of American Indian adolescents. These students will be followed longitudinally to examine incidence and cessation of alcohol use and abuse. Longitudinal data will also allow the study of progression from experimentation to heavy drinking for the first time. 4) To obtain a better understanding of the etiology of alcohol use and abuse among American Indian adolescents through the application of both structural equation modeling and logistic regression methods to analyze data pertaining to these youth. Year 1 will be dedicated to an investigation of the symbolic meaning of alcohol in this population and the development of reliable and valid measures for use among American Indian adolescents. This work will then be translated into a large scale biennial survey to be administered in Years 2 through 5. A detailed analytic plan is outlined. To date, a limited set of empirically-based studies concerning alcohol use and abuse among American Indian adolescents exist. Thus, the proposed study will add considerably to our current knowledge about this problem in a specific, high risk population. The results will inform future program development, including screening, treatment, and preventive interventions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AA008474-04
Application #
2044556
Study Section
Clinical and Treatment Subcommittee (ALCP)
Project Start
1991-08-01
Project End
1996-07-31
Budget Start
1994-08-01
Budget End
1995-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Colorado Denver
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
065391526
City
Aurora
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80045
Spillane, Nichea S; Muller, Clemma J; Noonan, Carolyn et al. (2012) Sensation-seeking predicts initiation of daily smoking behavior among American Indian high school students. Addict Behav 37:1303-6
Beals, Janette; Belcourt-Dittloff, Annie; Freedenthal, Stacey et al. (2009) Reflections on a proposed theory of reservation-dwelling American Indian alcohol use: comment on Spillane and Smith (2007). Psychol Bull 135:339-43; discussion 344-6
Whitesell, Nancy Rumbaugh; Mitchell, Christina M; Spicer, Paul (2009) A longitudinal study of self-esteem, cultural identity, and academic success among American Indian adolescents. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol 15:38-50
Mitchell, Christina M; Beals, Janette; Whitesell, Nancy Rumbaugh et al. (2008) Alcohol use among American Indian high school youths from adolescence and young adulthood: a latent Markov model. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 69:666-75
Kaufman, Carol E; Desserich, Jennifer; Big Crow, Cecelia K et al. (2007) Culture, context, and sexual risk among Northern Plains American Indian Youth. Soc Sci Med 64:2152-64
Mitchell, Christina M; Beals, Janette; Pathways of Choice Team (2006) The development of alcohol use and outcome expectancies among American Indian young adults: a growth mixture model. Addict Behav 31:1-14
Whitesell, Nancy Rumbaugh; Mitchell, Christina M; Kaufman, Carol E et al. (2006) Developmental trajectories of personal and collective self-concept among American Indian adolescents. Child Dev 77:1487-503
Novins, Douglas K; Baron, Anna E (2004) American Indian substance use: the hazards for substance use initiation and progression for adolescents aged 14 to 20 years. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43:316-24
Parker, Tassy (2004) Factors associated with American Indian teens' self-rated health. Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res 11:1-19
Spicer, Paul; Novins, Douglas K; Mitchell, Christina M et al. (2003) Aboriginal social organization, contemporary experience and American Indian adolescent alcohol use. J Stud Alcohol 64:450-7

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