Introduction to ecological description of a community intervention: building prevention through collaborative field based research.

This special issue of the American Journal of Community Psychology is the result of a 18-year partnership with Alaska Native communities using collaborative field based research methods. Its goal is to provide a case study fulfilling the spirit of ecological inquiry, offering a detailed and nuanced description of a community intervention. The articles describe the nature of our work, including some of our successes, as well as challenges, dilemmas, and even disappointments we experienced along the way.

"Oh No, We are Just Getting to Know You": The Relationship in Research with Children and Youth in Indigenous Communities.

We describe important elements in the process of engagement with tribal communities in research with children and youth and their families. We believe it helpful to understand the research relationship with tribal communities through the lens of kinship relations. This calls for re-examination of the nature of research and researcher, with important implications for the research process, design and organization, recovery from errors, and dissemination of results.

Stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios indicate traditional and market food intake in an indigenous circumpolar population.

The transition of a society from traditional to market-based diets (termed the nutrition transition) has been associated with profound changes in culture and health. We are developing biomarkers to track the nutrition transition in the Yup'ik Eskimo population of Southwest Alaska based on naturally occurring variations in the relative abundances of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ(15)N and δ(13)C values). Here, we provide three pieces of evidence toward the validation of these biomarkers.

Multicultural Mastery Scale for youth: multidimensional assessment of culturally mediated coping strategies.

Self-mastery refers to problem-focused coping facilitated through personal agency. Communal mastery describes problem solving through an interwoven social network. This study investigates an adaptation of self- and communal mastery measures for youth.

Navigating International, Interdisciplinary, and Indigenous Collaborative Inquiry: Phase 1 in the Circumpolar Indigenous Pathways to Adulthood Project.

This report describes how multiple community constituents came together to work with university researchers on developing a shared agenda for studying young indigenous people in five international circumpolar communities. The paper focuses on the set up and process of an initial face-to-face methodological planning workshop involving youth and adult community members and academics. Members of Yup'ik, Inupiat, Eveny, Inuit and Sámi communities from Siberia to Norway participated in the workshop and engaged in negotiations to arrive at shared research interests.

Associations of very high intakes of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids with biomarkers of chronic disease risk among Yup'ik Eskimos.

Background: Few studies have examined the associations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with biomarkers of chronic disease risk in populations with high intakes.

Objective: We examined the associations of red blood cell (RBC) EPA and DHA, as percentages of total fatty acids, with biomarkers of chronic disease risk across a wide range of EPA and DHA intakes.

Design: In a cross-sectional study of 357 Yup'ik Eskimos, generalized additive models were used to plot covariate-adjusted associations of EPA and DHA with chronic disease biomarkers.

Value of Community Partnership for Understanding Stress and Coping in Rural Yup'ik Communities: The CANHR Study.

Stress and trauma can compromise physical and mental health. Rural Alaska Native communities have voiced concern about stressful and traumatic events and their effects on health. The goal of the Yup'ik Experiences of Stress and Coping Project is to develop an in-depth understanding of experiences of stress and ways of coping in Yup'ik communities.

Smoking, chewing, and cultural identity: prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among the Yup'ik-The Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) study.

Survey data were obtained from a large sample of Yup'ik participants residing in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska. Tobacco use, age, sex, and a variety of psychosocial variables were assessed. Over 75% of participants use tobacco; one half (57.

Relationships between plasma adiponectin and body fat distribution, insulin sensitivity, and plasma lipoproteins in Alaskan Yup'ik Eskimos: the Center for Alaska Native Health Research study.

Adiponectin, a protein secreted by adipose tissue, has antiatherogenic, anti-inflammatory, and insulin-sensitizing actions. We examined the relationship between plasma adiponectin and adiposity, insulin resistance, plasma lipids, glucose, leptin, and anthropometric measurements in 316 adult men and 353 adult women Yup'ik Eskimos in Southwest Alaska. Adiponectin concentration was negatively associated with body mass index, percentage of body fat, sum of skin folds, waist circumference, triglycerides, insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]), fasting insulin, and leptin in both men and women, and also with glucose in women.

Metabolic syndrome in Yup'ik Eskimos: the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) Study.

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its defining components among Yup'ik Eskimos.

Research Methods And Procedures: A cross-sectional study design that included 710 adult Yup'ik Eskimos >or=18 years of age residing in 8 communities in Southwest Alaska. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was determined using the recently updated Adult Treatment Panel III criteria.

Risk, resilience, and natural recovery: a model of recovery from alcohol abuse for Alaska Natives.

Aim: The People Awakening (PA) study explored an Alaska Native (AN) understanding of the recovery process from alcohol abuse and consequent sobriety.

Design: PA utilized a cross-sectional, qualitative research design and community-based participatory research methods.

Setting And Participants: The study included a state-wide convenience sample of 57 participants representing all five major AN groups: Aleut/Alutiiq, Athabascan, Inupiaq, Yup'ik/Cup'ik and Tlingit/Haida/Tsimshian.

Stress, coping, and well-being among the Yup'ik of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta: the role of enculturation and acculturation.

Objectives: To report on the relationships between cultural identity and stress, coping, and psychological well-being in Yup'ik communities.

Study Design: A quantitative self-administered questionnaire.

Methods: A health and wellness survey was completed by a total of 488 Yup'ik participants (284 women and 204 men) from 6 rural villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.

Keeping busy: a Yup'ik/Cup'ik perspective on health and aging.

Objectives: Knowledge of cultural beliefs about health and how they influence life choices and intervention is essential in forming health policy and health promotion programs to meet the growing needs of aging minority populations. This study explores cultural beliefs and practices of health and well-being of Yup'ik/Cup'ik women in two rural villages in southwestern Alaska.

Study Design: Exploratory, descriptive qualitative study.

Sharing results from complex disease genetics studies: a community based participatory research approach.

Objectives: Dissemination of research results to communities builds capacity of the community to understand and utilize the results. The objective of this manuscript was to propose a culturally appropriate approach to disseminate complex disease genetics research findings in small Alaska Native communities.

Study Design: The Center for Alaska Native Health Research is a community-based participatory research project (CBPR) directed at understanding the interactions between genetic, nutritional and psychosocial risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in Yup'ik Eskimos.

The Center for Alaska Native Health Research Study: a community-based participatory research study of obesity and chronic disease-related protective and risk factors.

Objectives: To describe the background, approach and general results of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) study.

Study Design: This was a cross-sectional Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) study with one tribal group to assess risk and protection for obesity and the risk factors related to chronic disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Methods: A combination of biological, genetic, nutritional and psychosocial measurements were taken on 922 Alaska Native participants in ten communities in Southwestern Alaska.

The tools to understand: community as co-researcher on culture-specific protective factors for Alaska Natives.

A collaborative research process engaging Alaska Native communities in the study of protective factors in Alaska Native sobriety and the design of a preventative intervention using its findings is described. Study 1 was discovery oriented qualitative research whose objectives were identification of protective factors and development of a heuristic model. Study 2 involved quantitative survey methods to develop and test ameasure of protective factors identified by the qualitative study.

Building a community-based participatory research center to investigate obesity and diabetes in Alaska Natives.

The Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) is a community-based participatory research project aimed at understanding current risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in Alaska Natives living in Southwest Alaska. We utilize a multidisciplinary approach that includes assessment of genetic, nutritional and behavioral risk factors and their interrelationships with one another in the overall development of disease. The design of the CANHR project involved community participation in the development, implementation and interpretation of research results.

"Tied together like a woven hat:" Protective pathways to Alaska native sobriety.

BACKGROUND: The People Awakening Project (1RO1 AA 11446-03) had two purposes, completed in Phase I and Phase II of the project. The purpose of Phase I was to complete a qualitative study; the research objective was discovery oriented with the specific aim of identification of protective and recovery factors in Alaska Native sobriety. Results were used to develop a heuristic model of protective and recovery factors, and measures based on these factors.

Unheard Alaska: culturally anchored participatory action research on sobriety with Alaska Natives.

Alcohol research in Alaska Native communities has a contentious history. This project has attempted to address a critical need for research to guide alcohol abuse prevention and treatment with Alaska Natives using culturally anchored participatory action research. The process of grounding the research methodology in the culture and community is described, along with its contribution to community psychology's understanding of the importance of cultural factors.