FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OF ALCOHOL TREATMENT SERVICES AMONG AMERICAN-INDIAN ADOLESCENTS

Objective: This study examines factors potentially associated with the receipt of alcohol treatment services among a large sample of America n Indian adolescents. Method: Data for this study were drawn from the Voices of Indian Teens project, a 5-year, longitudinal project involvi ng school-based survey data collection at 10 primarily American Indian schools. In November 1992 a total of 2,077 American Indian youths in grades 9 through 12 completed self-report surveys. Of these, 1,681 had a complete set of data for these analyses. Three logistic regression models were developed to predict the probability of (1) receipt of tre atment, (2) treatment recommendation, and (3) receipt of treatment amo ng those teenagers who received a treatment recommendation. Results: T he probability of an individual receiving treatment was 15 times great er if treatment was recommended. Treatment recommendation mediated the relationship of several measures of psychological distress and alcoho l use, abuse, and dependence with actual treatment. Conclusions: Recom mendation for treatment is strongly associated with receiving treatmen t. Community education about the risks, signs, symptoms, need, and mec hanisms for obtaining treatment of alcohol abuse among youths might he lp alcohol-abusing individuals receive the help they need.