Differences in Illicit Drug-Use Rates Among Oklahoma and Non-Oklahoma Indian Youth

Abstract

Demographic factors may serve as risk or protective factors for drug use in American Indian communities. The purpose of the present study was to compare drug-use rates among Oklahoma and Non-Oklahoma Indian youth, and test corresponding rates of preventative and protective community, family, and social–demographic factors. Participants’ data included 1,928 Indian 7th–12th graders from non-Oklahoma schools and 1,938 Indian students from schools in Oklahoma, aggregated across 2–3 years from an ongoing survey study of substance use and prevention among Indian youth. As predicted, one-way analysis of variance tests indicated that Oklahoma youth showed lower rates of drug use, later ages of initiation of drug use, and greater levels of perceived harm from using drugs. These differences were reflected in the predicted protective factor differences, including higher levels of exposure to anti-drug campaigns in the community and schools, greater family involvement in drug-use prevention, and lower levels of peer drug associations. The strength of these protective factors is illustrated by the fact that drug-use rates were lower among Oklahoma youth despite the perception among Oklahoma youth that drugs were more available, compared with non-Oklahoma youth. Limitations and suggestions for future research are noted.

RESUME

Différences dans les taux d’usage de drogues illicites chez les eunes Amérindiens de l’Oklahoma et d’ailleurs

Les facteurs démographiques peuvent servir de facteurs de risque ou de protection à l’égard de l’usage de drogues dans les collectivités amérindiennes. L’objectif de la présente étude était de comparer les taux d’usage de drogues chez les jeunes Amérindiens de l’Oklahoma et d’ailleurs, et de tester les taux correspondants de facteurs communautaires, familiaux et sociodémographiques préventifs et protecteurs. Les données des participants comprenaient 1928 Amérindiens de la 7^e à la 12^e année d’écoles hors de l’Oklahoma et 1938 élèves amérindiens d’écoles de l’Oklahoma, cumulatives sur deux ou trois ans tirées d’une étude continue sur la consommation de drogues et la prévention s’y rattachant chez les jeunes Amérindiens. Comme prévu, des essais d’analyse de la variance unilatéraux ont indiqué que les jeunes de l’Oklahoma ont montré des taux inférieurs d’usage de drogues, des âges plus tardifs d’initiation à l’usage de drogues, et des niveaux plus élevés de préjudices perçus liés à l’usage de drogues. Ces différences sont illustrées dans les différences de facteur protecteur prévu, y compris des niveaux supérieurs d’exposition à des campagnes antidrogue dans la collectivité et les écoles, une meilleure participation de la famille dans la prévention liée à l’usage de drogues, et des niveaux inférieurs d’associations avec des pairs qui consomment. La force de ces facteurs protecteurs est illustrée par le fait que les taux d’usage de drogues étaient inférieurs chez les jeunes de l’Oklahoma malgré la perception chez les jeunes de l’Oklahoma que les drogues étaient plus faciles à obtenir, comparativement aux jeunes d’ailleurs. Les limites et les suggestions pour la recherche future sont notées.

Mots-clés : consommation de drogues; prévention; jeunes Amérindiens; collectivité; adolescents;

RESUMEN

Diferencias en los índices del consumo de drogas ilegales entre los jóvenes indígenas de Oklahoma y los de otros estados

Los factores demográficos pueden servir como factores de riesgo o de protección contra el uso de drogas en comunidades amerindias. El propósito del presente estudio fue comparar los índices en el consumo de drogas entre la juventud indígena de Oklahoma y la de otro estados, con las tasas correspondientes de factores sociodemográficos para prevenir y proteger a la comunidad y a la familia. Los datos de los participantes incluyeron a 1928 estudiantes indígenas del 7º al 12º grado, de escuelas afuera de Oklahoma y de 1938 estudiantes indígenas de escuelas en Oklahoma, y se sumaron a una encuesta de dos y tres años que a la sazón se realiza sobre el uso de sustancias ilegales y la prevención entre la juventud amerindia. Como se pronosticara, las pruebas de una entrada de Análisis de Varianza indicaron que la juventud de Oklahoma mostró índices menores de consumo de drogas; inicio a edades más tardías en el consumo de estupefacientes; y una percepción de niveles de mayor daño por el uso de drogas. Estas diferencias se reflejaron en las diferencias del factor de protección pronosticado, incluyendo niveles más elevados de exposición a campañas contra las drogas en la comunidad y las escuelas; mayor participación familiar en la prevención del uso de estupefacientes; y grados menores de asociaciones con drogas entre compañeros de la misma edad. La fuerza de estos factores de protección se ilustran con el hecho de que los índices del uso de drogas son menores entre los jóvenes de Oklahoma a pesar de la percepción de que entre la juventud de ese estado había mayor acceso a las drogas en comparación con los jóvenes de otras regiones. Se incluyen las limitaciones y sugerencias para investigaciones futuras.

Palabras clave: uso de sustancias; prevención; juventud amerindia; comunidad; adolescentes.

Keywords :

• substance use
• prevention
• American Indian youth
• community
• adolescents

THE AUTHORS

Sarah Tragesser, PhD, is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Washington State University. Her research is centered on personality and personality disorder features, cross-cultural research, and emotions, and their associations with substance abuse. Specific research in these areas includes borderline personality disorder features and alcohol problems, drinking motives, substance abuse prevention, and cross-cultural issues of measurement equivalence and bias. She uses a variety of research methods, including ecological momentary assessments and event-based sampling (with palm pilot surveys, acoustic samples), experimental paradigms, vignettes, and longitudinal survey data. Along with colleagues, she conducts research with both normal and clinical populations, with an interest in these issues in the context of normal functioning as well as in the service of alleviating mental health problems and their social consequences.

Frederick Beauvais, PhD, is a Senior Research Scientist with the Tri-ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University. Dr. Beauvais holds PhD degree in counseling/clinical psychology. He is Principal Investigator on a project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse which examines the trends and patterns of drug use among American Indian adolescents with an emphasis on risk and protective factors and the impact of cultural identification on drug-use patterns. This project has been ongoing since 1974. Dr. Beauvais also participates in a number of other research projects that are concerned with social and psychological problems confronting ethnic minority populations including violence, victimization, delinquency school dropout, and suicide. In addition to his interests in specific research topics, Dr. Beauvais has written extensively on the procedures and ethics of conducting research among ethnic minority populations with a special interest in the promotion of collaborative research models.

Martha Burnside is a Research Associate at CASAE; the Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity at Colorado State University. Martha has worked in Native communities for over 13 years in the fields of substance abuse and treatment as well as HIV/AIDS prevention. Martha serves as the Tribal Liaison/Field Coordinator and also a Community Readiness trainer with the “Advancing HIV/AIDS Prevention in Native Communities: Strengthening Community Access to and Utilization of HIV Prevention Services.” This project provides capacity building assistance (CBA) to organizations and tribes serving Native people in an effort to strengthen prevention and intervention efforts and increase early detection for HIV/AIDS infection. This project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Martha graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and received her BA from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Martha is a published poet and an enrolled voting member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma.

Pamela Jumper Thurman, PhD, Western Cherokee, is a Senior Research Scientist with the Department of Ethnic Studies at Colorado State University. She has worked with cultural issues utilizing community participatory research, prevention of ATOD, methamphetamine treatment and prevention, prevention of violence and victimization, rural women's concerns, HIV/AIDS, and solvent abuse, and currently serves or has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator for federally funded grants that examine community/grassroots prevention of intimate partner violence, state wide initiatives to prevent methamphetamine use, epidemiology of American Indian substance use, prevention of HIV/AIDS, and epidemiology and prevention of solvent use among youth.