PERSONALITY AND MOTIVES FOR ALCOHOL USE IN ABORIGINAL ADOLESCENTS: A CULTURALLY RELEVANT APPROACH TO ALCOHOL ABUSE EARLY INTERVENTION

Abstract

There are high levels of alcohol abuse and associated problems among Aboriginal youth in Canada. In order to understand high-risk adolescents’ relationships with alcohol, four inter-related questions were explored: 1) How do youth at particular risk of alcohol abuse, understand their reasons for alcohol use?; 2) How does personality relate to reasons for drinking for First Nations adolescents?; 3) Can established alcohol abuse brief early interventions be effectively tailored to meet the needs of high personality risk First Nations adolescents?, and 4) Do interventions developed specifically for First Nations youth with varying personality risk characteristics and maladaptive motives for alcohol use effectively reduce drinking behaviour and problems associated with alcohol use? The factor-structure of Cooper’s (1994) motivational model of adolescent alcohol use was examined among a group of Mi’kmaq adolescents. Rather than the hypothesized four-factor model, a three-factor model better explained these data, where Enhancement and Social motives combined into a single motive reflective of positive reinforcement. A qualitative follow-up study showed that these youth had a tendency toward drinking for Enhancement motives rather than for Social affiliation. Next, a quantitative examination of the relationships between personality factors and motives for alcohol use in First Nations adolescents showed consistency with majority culture findings; Impulsivity and Sensation Seeking was associated with Enhancement motives for alcohol use; Anxiety Sensitivity was associated with Conformity motives; and Hopelessness was associated with Coping motives. Finally, an alcohol early intervention, which combined promising Western scientific approaches with traditional knowledge, was delivered to at-risk First Nations youth. Compared to eligible students who did not participate in the intervention program, intervention completers drank less frequently, engaged in less heavy episodic drinking, had lower levels of alcohol-related problems, were more likely to abstain from alcohol use, and reduced their marijuana use at four months following the interventions relative to their levels at pre-treatment baseline. First Nations youth can be empowered through pride in their heritage and ways of life, to find balance within themselves through learning healthy coping skills to deal with their own unique predispositions to heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems.