Culturally-Informed Interventions for Substance Abuse Among Indigenous Youth in the United States: A Review

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Given the disproportionately high levels of alcohol and other drug abuse among Indigenous youth in the United States, the purpose of this systematic review was to explicate the current state of empirically-based and culturally-informed substance abuse prevention and intervention programs for Indigenous youth (ages 9–18). Method: The 14 articles that met inclusion criteria for this review were analyzed both in terms of the cultural intervention itself (primary population, intervention, core tenants, focus of intervention, intervention goals, location, intervention location, and program length) and their evaluation approach. Results: Results indicate variable integration of cultural components with the majority of interventions taking place in schools and treatment facilities, targeting primarily individuals. Discussion: There is a current gap in research on culturally-informed substance abuse interventions for Indigenous youth, which this review begins to address. Promising areas of future research and interventions include bringing communities and families into treatment and prevention.

KEYWORDS:

• Native American
• Indigenous
• youth
• adolescent
• substance abuse intervention