Citation

Herron J, Hirchak KA, Venner K, Tofighi D, McDonell M. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

DOI

10.15288/jsad.21-00400

PMID

36971715

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations experience greater health disparities in alcohol use outcomes compared to the general population. This secondary data analysis examines cultural factors related to alcohol use in 65 reservation-based American Indian (AI) adults in a randomized controlled trial of a culturally tailored contingency management (CM) program. It was hypothesized that individuals with higher rates of cultural protective factors would have lower rates of alcohol use, while individuals with higher rates of risk factors would have higher rates of alcohol use. It was also hypothesized that enculturation would moderate the relationship between treatment group and alcohol use.

METHOD: Generalized linear mixed modelling (GLMM) was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) for the repeated measure, biweekly urine tests of the biomarker, ethyl glucuronide (EtG), across 12 weeks. The relationship between alcohol use (abstinence [EtG < 150 ng/mL]) or heavy drinking [EtG ≥ 500 ng/mL]) and culturally relevant protective (enculturation, years lived on the reservation) and risk factors (discrimination, historical loss, historical loss symptoms) were examined.

RESULTS: The sample was 63.1% male with an average age of 36.7 years. There was a negative association between enculturation and probability of submitting a heavy drinking urine sample (OR = 0.973; 95% CI [0.950, 0.996], p = 0.023), indicating enculturation may serve as a protective factor against heavy drinking.

CONCLUSION: Cultural factors, like enculturation, may be important constructs to assess and incorporate into treatment planning with AI adults engaged in alcohol treatment.

Language: en