Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118114

Philip A. May, PhD, Margaret Anne Yellow Kidney, BSN, and J. Phillip Gossage, PhD. Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, The University of New Mexico, 2650 Yale Blvd SE, Suite 100, Albuquerque, NM 87106, 505-925-2307, pmay@unm.edu

It is generalized in some literature that American Indians are suffering from historical and intergenerational grief. Loss of land to the U.S. government, forced attendance at boarding schools, racism, and other traumatic events may account for an excess of mental and behavioral health problems including alcohol abuse. There are, however, limited publications which contain data relative to those generalizations, and results from the few studies are generally mixed. A scale measuring historical loss and feelings about those losses has emerged from Whitbeck and colleagues. We have applied this scale in a random sample study of Plains Indian adults which focuses on the epidemiology of alcohol use and abuse. Early data from 124 adults from one tribe were analyzed for this abstract. Perceived losses from historical trauma are generally not predictive of alcohol use and abuse. However, individual feelings about those losses are predictive of alcohol use and abuse on certain measures: lifetime abstinence; age first used alcohol and began drinking regularly; percent who drank in the 7 days, 30 days, and 12 months preceding interview; number of drinks consumed in past week and 30 days; and binge drinking days in the past 30 days. Data collection and analyses are continuing, and results from a larger sample from at least two tribes will be presented at the APHA meeting. Funding was provided by the NIAAA (RO1 AA09440 and UO1 AA11685) and the NIH Office for Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Understand the scope of the overall study of alcohol use among American Indians of the Northern Plains.
• Recognize the ways in which historical losses are defined and measured.
• Identify the relationships between feelings about historical losses and alcohol use and abuse.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, American Indians

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.