Method: These data were from a larger study aimed at reducing alcohol use in the Cherokee Nation. Outcomes data from two control schools were used in the analyses presented here, to eliminate possible intervention effects. The study cohort was (n=589) 9th and 10thgrade students surveyed four times a year over a three-year period (12 waves total). Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) was used to identify alcohol use trajectories across the 12 waves. Forty-three percent of the sample self-identified as NA.
Results: Preliminary results found gender to be significantly related to alcohol use trajectories, with trajectories for males reflecting greater alcohol use across time. Self-reported ethnicity was not associated with alcohol use. The alcohol use trajectories for the NA and White students followed similar patterns of escalation of use across early waves that began to level off in 11th and 12thgrade.
Conclusions: Gender was related to patterns of alcohol use risk across adolescence in this population, but self-reported ethnic identity was not. The similarity between NA and White youth is consistent with other findings with Oklahoma Native populations, but distinct from findings in many other Native communities. Perhaps the higher degree of cultural integration and greater commonality of stressors in these rural areas attenuate differences between NA and White youth. Additional analyses are underway to examine trajectories of marijuana use and to include additional covariates.