Intertribal Talking Circle for the Prevention of Substance Abuse in Native Youth

The proposed study will consist of a 5-year plan: Year 1 has been completed and consisted of strengthening and extending community partnerships in each community and collecting data that will inform the cultural adaptation and tailoring of the intervention; Years 2, 3, and 4 will entail implementation by using a two-condition controlled study in which the culturally competent intervention is compared to standard care; and Year 5 will consist of final data collection, analysis of results, dissemination of results to local communities, and finalization of a sustainability plan for each Tribe.

Participants in the proposed study will consist of 540 male and female American Indian 6th grade students who represent at least three different Tribes - Choctaw, Ojibwe/ Chippewa, and Lumbee, in three different regions of the U.S. Participants will also include 70 tribal personnel (adults 18 and over) who be trained to implement the intervention in Years 3 & 4 of the project. Finally, 15-20 stakeholders and community partnership members will be interviewed at various stages of this project.

Inclusion criteria

• Inclusion criteria for youth participants include:
• AIl students enrolled in the 6th grade at each of the 3 regions
• Active parental consent
• Student willingness to participate and signed assent. Inclusion criteria for adult participants include: adults over 18 years of age currently employed as personnel, educators, and counselors at tribal schools among the three regions.

Exclusion criteria

• Exclusion criteria include students who are not identified as American Indian, no active parental consent, and no signed assent.