American Indian (AI) populations are at special risk for alcohol problems. Recent mortality statistics indicated that the ratios of age-adjusted mortality rates for AIs and Alaska Natives compared to the US """"""""All Races"""""""" were 6.7 for alcoholism and 4.4 for chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. For those interested in prevention, adolescent alcohol use, misuse, and related problems are of special concern. Compared to their non-AI counterparts, AI youth have been reported to be more likely to use alcohol, to become problem drinkers, to meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence, to use alcohol in combinations with drugs, and to have both an alcohol use disorder and a psychiatric disorder. At the same time, researchers have found that many problem behaviors tend to covary; as a result, understanding alcohol use, misuse, and problems within the broader context of other problem and positive behaviors promises to provide critical information as we contemplate prevention. This application proposes secondary data analyses of a longitudinal dataset that followed 1,211 AI young people from 2 different tribes, beginning when the youth were ages 14-18 and ending at ages 20-24. Focusing on alcohol use, misuse, and problems, within the context of other problem and positive behaviors, we propose to explore the relationships among and pathways to problem and positive behaviors during the developmental transition from adolescence to emergent adulthood. To this end, the project has 3 Specific Aims: 1) to determine the structure, equivalence, and stability of measures of alcohol use, misuse, and problems in adolescence and emergent adulthood, both alone and in the context of other problem/positive behaviors in 2 AI samples; 2) to examine homogeneity and heterogeneity in the development and change in alcohol use, misuse, and problems both alone and in the context of other problem/positive behaviors, within the framework of latent growth curve modeling; and 3) using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), to create theoretically based models of the development of alcohol use, misuse, and problems in the context of other problem/positive behaviors.
| 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 |
