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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res
February 2009
Drug use among American Indian (AI) youth continues at higher levels than those found among other youth. While the rates are higher, the patterns of increases and decreases over the past 30-year period have been similar, indicating that AI youth are part of the larger adolescent culture. There is a set of secular influences that affect the rates of drug use in both groups in the same manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough there is a large body of literature examining adolescent drug use, little is known about drug use rates among younger children. This paper presents such information for both American Indian and non-Indian fourth to sixth grade students for "having gotten drunk," the "use of marijuana," the "use of inhalants," and the use of "other" drugs over a 10-year period. Generally, the rates of use for Indian youth are higher, with a particularly high rate of marijuana use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAIDS has steadily increased in recent years, becoming the ninth leading killer of Native people between the ages of 15 and 44. In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that ethnic minorities account for more than 71% of all reported AIDS cases and that there are still increases in AIDS cases in the American Indian population. Despite the work that has been done related to HIV/AIDS, there remain some major challenges in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Native communities.
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August 2004
Little information exists regarding mental health and special needs related to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI-AN) families. In this paper we emphasize the use of oral tradition during the Circles of Care initiative, which was essential in understanding cultural history and historical trauma of AI-ANs while giving a greater understanding of an AI-AN-based definition of severe emotional disturbance (SED). The success of these methods serves as a template for improving systems of care and may be useful in evaluation among a wide range of ethnic communities.
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