High Cultural Identity Associated with Lower Alcohol Use Among American Indian Adolescents

Introduction.  Previous studies have explored the role of American Indian (AI) cultural identity and alcohol use patterns among AI youth.  However, the research is relatively sparse and has produced mixed findings regarding the association of cultural identity and alcohol use.  Conceptualizations and measurement of cultural identity greatly differ from study-to-study. The current study examines differences in cultural identification with a large sample of rural AI and AI/White adolescents, and the extent to which higher cultural identification is associated with lower alcohol use.

Methods. Data were part of a longitudinal randomized control trial of an alcohol preventative intervention for rural, non-reservation communities.  The region is home to a high percent of AI families (town populations ranging from 9% to 40% AI), with high school student populations ranging from 38% to 56% AI. The present study included two baseline surveys from students who identified as being AI only (n=435) or AI and White (n=352). Students completed a self-report survey assessing alcohol use during the past month and the Orthogonal Cultural Identification Scale at two baseline surveys administered 6 months apart. Negative binomial regression analysis in SAS PROC GENMOD was used to estimate the effects of cultural identity on alcohol use, adjusting for gender, receipt of free or reduced price lunch, and alcohol use at wave 1.

Results.  AI students with high White cultural identification and high identification with either AI or White culture reported fewer days of alcohol use (RR = .52; p = .01, RR = .61; p = .05 respectively) and heavy drinking (RR = .34; p = <.01, RR = .31; p = <.01 respectively) during the past month. Similarly, AI students with high White and high AI cultural identification reported fewer days of heavy drinking during the past month (RR = .38, p = .01). High AI cultural identification was associated with fewer days of heavy drinking among students in all schools (RR = .42; p = .05). The effect of high AI cultural identity was moderated by the student attending a majority AI school (p<0.01). High AI cultural identity was protective for fewer days of drinking in the past month among students attending a majority AI school (RR= .39; p = .05).  This relationship was not evident among AI students attending schools with a majority White population.

Conclusion.   Findings provide evidence that high levels of cultural identification are associated with fewer days of drinking in most cases. High levels of AI, AI and White, and White cultural identity were associated with fewer days of alcohol use. Further, high AI cultural identity was a protective factor for AI students in the school where the majority of the school population was AI.