Young Adult Drinking in a Southwestern Tribe: Beliefs, Knowledge, and Work
Principal Investigator: Roland S. Moore, Ph.D.

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In the United States, the phase of life when heavy drinking usually peaks is young adulthood. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 represent the section of the population at greatest risk for heavy binge drinking. Compared to other age groups, they have more alcohol-related problems such as arrests for driving under the influence and causing or being the victim of interpersonal violence.

This study documents the current state of beliefs, knowledge, and behavior surrounding alcohol use or nonuse among young adults aged 21 to 25 from a Southwestern tribe. The study is supported by the National Institutes of Health and is conducted under the oversight of the tribe's department of health. The overall goal of the ongoing study is to identify and describe the beliefs and knowledge about alcohol's effects held by young adults, as well as drinking behavior within the context of employment and unemployment in a community with high rates of joblessness. The study's research design consists of a five-year ethnographic study, using the methods of observations and interviews. In these interviews, young adults talk about their alcohol beliefs, knowledge, and employment experiences.

Three bilingual research associates and I have been interviewing young women and men from a reservation community. The participants were randomly selected from a published list of high school graduates. Pursuing educational and occupational opportunities, many of the young people in this study had moved to larger cities, which made contacting them about the study a challenge. An additional barrier to contacting participants is that telephone coverage is not universal in this area.

In addition to the semi-structured interviews, observations of places where young adults report drinking are carried out in and around different settings, including rodeos, dances, and ceremonial events. Additional observations are made in settings where drinking is discouraged and rare. As on many reservations in the U.S., the sale and possession of alcohol are illegal, but bootlegging and ferrying liquor from border towns provide plenty of alcohol on the reservation.

Of the 24 men and 31 women whose interviews have been transcribed so far, at the time of the interview, 37 out of the 55 young adults were abstainers. That is, they were not drinking alcohol at all. Most of the others drank extremely infrequently. Compared to the majority population of the United States, which has less than a quarter of abstainers in that age group, over two-thirds of these young adults are not current drinkers. Among many conclusions, these data show that the stereotype of "the drunken Indian" is not true, because they reinforce survey data from other age groups: most Native Americans abstain from drinking.

By listening carefully to what these young adult respondents said in the interviews, we can learn why the abstainers are not drinking. The young men and young women who had only tasted alcohol or not had any to drink at all reported that they did so to avoid the damage that they had seen alcohol cause in their own communities. Some of the young men who used to but no longer drink said that they had experienced negative consequences of drinking and decided to stop -- either on their own, as they gained more responsibility as parents, or with the strong support of their families of origin.

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It is clear that the experience of relatives has been the most recurring influence on these young adults' decisions to abstain from alcohol. Family support and also cautionary advice from elders also have played an important role in the abstention of many respondents.

These young women and men know a great deal about the effects of alcohol. A minority has learned first-hand from their own drinking or, more often, the drinking of people around them. They also have been exposed to public health messages from high school classes, their doctors, and television and radio. Although many of the respondents were not familiar with the term "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome" or FAS, all of them did know that a pregnant woman could harm her fetus by drinking. This is important because it shows that the basic message is reaching this audience, even if they are not familiar with the scientific term. In the interviews, both abstainers and drinkers often referred to concerns about alcohol and health, and especially drinking under the influence and drinking while pregnant.

What this shows is that at least some of the many public health messages aimed at them have been getting through. These young adults do not always act on these messages but at least their rhetoric is slowly incorporating some of the basic public health warnings.

In the coming year, the research associates and I will continue to do more interviews and carefully review the transcripts of the interviews that have been done. That way, we can better identify the main patterns of drinking and (just as important) non-drinking in this population, with suggestions for prevention. This past summer, we sponsored the reunion of the graduating class, so that we could give them feedback on how the study is going. The reunion featured tasty non-alcoholic party drinks, as a way of showing how to host a good celebration without alcohol.

One set of beliefs that is important to understand is that, as in other parts of the United States, many of the people in this group binge drink to drunkenness during birthdays, both their own and the birthdays of friends. In addition to these specific times of weekends and birthdays, respondents identified specific locations where drinking most often took place. Understanding the situations when people drink (with whom, what, when, where and why) is an important step towards preventing some of the most dangerous drinking situations. One potential use of this information for young adults at risk: Before the events take place, counselors or family members can help the young adults create alternative celebration plans.

An additional tool for prevention of alcohol-related problems among young adults might be the words from the young people we have interviewed. The reasons that the abstainers in this study have given for not drinking may resonate with young adults who do have drinking problems, as a way of steering them towards treatment or at least reducing hazardous drinking.

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The study would not be possible without the considerate support and assistance of the tribe's Division of Health and Department of Behavioral Health Services experts in the studied community. The support of the local community government in permitting the study to take place is gratefully acknowledged. Finally, the Principal Investigator would like to thank research associates Orlinda Williams, Leona Leonard, Alice Arviso and transcriber Bertha Jishie, who have worked hard to enable this study to be useful.


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