Rd. Walker et al., ALCOHOL-ABUSE IN URBAN INDIAN ADOLESCENTS AND WOMEN - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY FOR ASSESSMENT AND RISK-EVALUATION, American Indian and Alaska native mental health research, 7(1), 1996, pp. 1-47
Empirical studies of American Indian health and mental health have foc
used primarily on reservation samples or small cross-sectional school-
based or treatment samples. Few studies have addressed these issues am
ong urban American Indian populations. This paper introduces an ongoin
g ten-year prospective longitudinal study of alcohol abuse, drug abuse
, and mental health status in a community sample of urban American Ind
ian adolescents and women. The study uses structured interviews and di
agnostic assessments to identify risk factors for, and measure prevale
nce of, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and psychopathology in 523 Indian y
outh and 276 Indian women. Study aims, rationale, research design, met
hods, sample characteristics, assessment instruments, and substance us
e prevalence are described, and methodological issues related to condu
cting longitudinal research are discussed.