Motivational Interviewing and Culture for Urban Native American Youth (MICUNAY)

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth report higher rates of alcohol and drug (AOD)
use, greater frequency and intensity of AOD use, earlier first AOD use, and much higher
alcohol-related mortality than other racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. Data regarding urban
AIs/ANs are limited; however, one study found that at-risk AIs/AN adults in an urban setting
report an earlier onset of alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine, and other drug use compared
to all other ethnic/racial groups within LA County. This proposal responds to PAR-11-346,
Interventions for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Native American Populations,
which is focused on developing, adapting, and testing the effectiveness of health promotion
prevention interventions in Native American populations. The two co-PI's provide a unique
blend of expertise that has resulted in the development of an innovative preliminary
protocol for AI/AN youth: Motivational Interviewing and Culture for Urban Native American
Youth (MICUNAY), which integrates traditional healing approaches with motivational
interviewing (MI). Dickerson is an Alaska Native (Inupiaq) new investigator who worked with
the AI/AN community to obtain community-based perspectives on decreasing AOD use and mental
health problems. D'Amico is internationally recognized for her work focused on the
development and testing of MI interventions targeting AOD use for culturally diverse
adolescents across different settings. Dickerson and colleagues have demonstrated the need
for culturally-appropriate interventions for AI/AN youth. His two community-based projects
found that there is a lack of programs integrating tradition-based healing with evidenced
based treatments (EBTs), and this was cited as a significant barrier to seeking care within
urban AI/AN populations. Therefore, MICUNAY will integrate tradition-based healing with MI.
It consists of 6 weekly 1-hour sessions (3 MI AOD sessions and 3 tradition activity
sessions). This proposal also incorporates a multi-system intervention approach. At the
individual level, the investigators will provide MICUNAY to urban AI/AN youth. At the
community level, they will discuss AOD use and AOD prevention among AI/AN youth at existing
Community Wellness Gatherings (CWG). The proposed 5-year study will consist of two main
components: 1) A Developmental Phase in which they conduct focus groups across two clinical
sites in Los Angeles and Oakland with the community to establish feasibility and
sustainability of delivery, 2) A randomized controlled trial comparing youth who only attend
a CWG (n=100) to youth who attend a CWG plus receive MICUNAY (n=100). The investigators will
compare outcomes at 3- and 6-month follow-up to determine (a) whether clinically significant
changes in AOD expectancies, perceived prevalence of peer AOD use, alcohol consumption,
marijuana and other drug use, and related consequences occur; (b) whether clinically
significant changes in physical, social, emotional, and functional well-being as well as
spirituality and cultural identification occur, and (c) if reductions occur, estimate effect
sizes for the CWG group and the CWG plus MICUNAY group. This study substantially extends
work with AI/AN youth by intervening at both the community and individual level, and
developing and testing an integrated tradition-based AOD MI group intervention for urban
AI/AN youth.

Inclusion Criteria:

- identify as Native American

- age 14-18

Exclusion Criteria:

- just need to meet inclusion criteria