This project seeks two years of funding to develop and pilot a culturally specific alcohol prevention program in partnerships with the Crow Creek, Lower Brule, and Lake Traverse (Sisseton/Wahpeton) reservations of the Dakota people. This innovative program focuses on children ages 8 to 10 and builds on previously funded NIDA research with Anishinabe people (""""""""Listening to One Another"""""""" project, DA 10049). Strong support for the effectiveness of a cultural adaptation emerged from this research. The most successful elements were those where the adaptation of cultural components was most comprehensive. That is, parents and children were more likely to retain prevention messages and practice specific behaviors when basic cultural content was integrated into the intervention than they were the other elements in the program. Finally, the intervention trials indicated positive effects for children who participated in the program at an earlier age. This project is different in that it is being developed not only from within the culture but within each subculture, nation by nation. It would be disrespectful to impose an intervention program from another culture. The need to adapt every aspect of this program so that it is specific to the traditions of the Dakota is critical, especially given that the two nations are traditional enemies. The goal of this project is to develop a similar culturally based prevention program for a different American Indian culture. Given the developmental nature of this grant, the research design is fairly simple. Most of the effort will be on developing the prevention program. Data will be collected from advisory boards and focus groups from each reservation. After the needs and issues requisite for a Dakota-based prevention program emerge and the materials and program developed, 10 families from each reservation will be invited to participate in the pilot. Data from these groups will be analyzed and incorporated into the final revised program. This represents the first phase of the Dakota Alcohol Prevention Program. Phase two will involve seeking funding to implement the full prevention trials throughout participating reservations. Phase three will involve tribal collaboration to develop a strategy for long term sustainability of the program. This effort will complement existing funded programs at SDSU and contribute to sustainability once the grant is completed through efforts to train and build an infrastructure of American Indian scientists residing on the reservations.
