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The Efficacy of a Multicultural Prevention Intervention among Urban American Indian Youth in the Southwest U.S.

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Abstract

This study explored how a non-targeted group of ethnic minority youth might or might not benefit from a prevention intervention focused on other cultural groups. The study specifically evaluated the effects of an evidence-based drug prevention curriculum with a sample of urban American Indian youth in the southwest U.S., most of whom self-reported multi-ethnic heritages. Using growth curve modeling, this research examined the developmental trajectory of drug use for these youth, and compared it with the trajectory of youth from other racial/ethnic groups at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and two follow up time periods. Results indicate that alcohol and marijuana use increased from pre-intervention across subsequent time periods for all youth. The drug use of the American Indian youth in the treatment group increased on some measures. Specifically, they reported a steeper trajectory in the amount and frequency of alcohol and marijuana use compared to the youths in the treatment groups with other racial/ethnic identifications. The implications of these findings for the development of culturally grounded prevention programs for multi-ethnic, urban American Indian youth are discussed. Editors’ Strategic Implications: This research provides a specific example, but also makes a strong global argument, for the need to develop and evaluate prevention programs that are culturally grounded in the worldview of the target group.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse funding for the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center at Arizona State University (R-24 DA 13937-01), the Drug Resistance Strategies-3 project (R01 DA05629).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counselor Education, University of Florida, 1207 Norman Hall, P.O. Box 117046, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7046, USA

    Andrea L. Dixon

  2. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Scott T. Yabiku, Flavio F. Marsiglia, Stephen Kulis & Aimee M. Burke

  3. Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Scott K. Okamoto

  4. Denver Health and Hospitals, Denver, CO, USA

    Sheila S. Tann

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  1. Andrea L. Dixon
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  2. Scott T. Yabiku
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  5. Flavio F. Marsiglia
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  7. Aimee M. Burke
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Correspondence to Andrea L. Dixon.

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Dixon, A.L., Yabiku, S.T., Okamoto, S.K. et al. The Efficacy of a Multicultural Prevention Intervention among Urban American Indian Youth in the Southwest U.S.. J Primary Prevent 28, 547–568 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0114-8

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