PREVENTING ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH

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In a repeated measures, randomized blocks design, the revised study will evaluate the separate and combined effects of skills and family interventions for alcohol abuse prevention among Native American adolescents. Study sites are urban Indian centers located in New Haven, CT, Boston, MA, New York, NY, and Providence, RI. Randomly, pretested Native American youths at participating sites will be divided into four conditions: skills intervention, family intervention, skills and family intervention combined, and no-intervention control. Skills intervention will cover elements of cultural and life-style aspects of alcohol abuse, interpersonal communication skills for self-determination, strategies for coping with peer pressure to drink, problem solving skills, and analyzing and resisting media influences toward alcohol use and abuse. Family intervention will cover these same elements through community meetings, a poster making exercise, and a contest. Integrating these same elements into one curriculum, the combined intervention will seek to maximize the benefits of skills and family approaches to preventive intervention. Outcome measures administered before, after, and semiannually following intervention delivery will quantify cognitive, behavioral, and environmental variables of alcohol abuse risk and risk reduction. The proposed research is developed in collaboration with Native American organizations, agencies, reservations, tribal councils, and groups. Representing these sites, administrators and clinical staff have agreed to participate in the study.