Multilevel Prevention Trial of Alcohol Use Among American Indian and White High School Students in the Cherokee Nation.

YOUTH & alcohol; NATIVE American high school students; WHITE youth; UNDERAGE drinking; HIGH school students; SUBSTANCE abuse prevention; SUBSTANCE use of youth; NATIVE Americans -- Substance use; PREVENTION; ALCOHOL drinking; CHI-squared test; CONFIDENCE intervals; STATISTICAL correlation; FACTORIAL experiment designs; NATIVE Americans; LONGITUDINAL method; RURAL population; STATISTICAL sampling; SURVEYS; PILOT projects; JUDGMENT sampling; SECONDARY analysis; BINGE drinking; MOTIVATIONAL interviewing; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; ODDS ratio

CHEROKEE Nation; UNITED States

Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of a multilevel intervention designed to prevent underage alcohol use among youths living in the Cherokee Nation. Methods. We randomly assigned 6 communities to a control, Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA; a community-organizing intervention targeting alcohol access) only, CONNECT (a school-based universal screening and brief intervention) only, or a combined condition. We collected quarterly surveys 2012-2015 from students starting in 9th and 10th grades and ending in 11th and 12th grades. Response rates ranged from 83% to 90%; 46% of students were American Indian (of which 80% were Cherokee) and 46% were White only. Results. Students exposed to CMCA, CONNECT, and both showed a significant reduction in the probability over time of 30-day alcohol use (25%, 22%, and 12% reduction, respectively) and heavy episodic drinking (24%, 19%, and 13% reduction) compared with students in the control condition, with variation in magnitude of effects over the 2.5-year intervention period. Conclusions. CMCA and CONNECT are effective interventions for reducing alcohol use among American Indian and other youths living in rural communities. Challenges remain for sustaining intervention effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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