NCJ Number
228037
Journal
American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: 1997 Pages: 24-40
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study of a sample of 105 American Indians living in Denver, CO, focused on patterns of alcohol consumption, family history of alcoholism, and lifetime and current diagnoses of substance dependence.
Abstract
The study found that 50.5 percent of the sample were either abstinent or irregular drinkers with moderate intake (3.3 drinks per occasion). Binge drinkers (3.8 percent of the sample) consumed large amounts of alcohol per drinking occasion (mean of 21.6 drinks). Regular drinkers (a mean of 11 standard drinks per occasion at least once a week) composed 45.5 percent of the sample. The rate of current alcohol dependence (33.3 percent) and other drug dependence (18.1 percent) was relatively high. For the latter group, cocaine and cannabis were the primary drugs of abuse. Participants with at least one alcoholic parent composed 60.6 percent of the sample; only 11.1 percent of the sample had no primary or secondary alcoholic family members. The authors caution about generalizing from these data due to the use of a nonrandom sampling method. Subjects were recruited through flyers, posters, and advertisements placed in local newspapers, the Denver Indian Center, and Denver Indian Health and Family Services. Subjects were interviewed about their education; employment; past and present drug and alcohol use, including frequency/quantity, beverage type, and pattern of intake; and family history of alcoholism. The drug and alcohol sections of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule were administered to participants in order to determine lifetime and current prevalence of substance dependence. 5 tables and 23 references