A Culturally Focused Wellness Intervention for American Indian Women of a Small Southwest Community: Associations with Alcohol Use, Abstinence Self-Efficacy, Symptoms of Depression, and Self-Esteem

Abstract Purpose. This study examined the influence of a culturally focused wellness intervention on alcohol consumption, alcohol abstinence self-efficacy, depression, and self-esteem among women of a small American Indian community in the southwestern United States. Participation in two intervention approaches was compared: a curriculum-based health promotion–only approach and health promotion combined with cognitive-behavioral skills building (CBSB). Design. The wellness intervention was tested in a prospective, randomized, two-group design with repeated measures. There was no control group. Setting. An American Indian community in the Southwest. Subjects. American Indian women, ages 18 to 50 (N  =  268). Intervention. A 10-session culturally focused curriculum-based health promotion intervention, with a CBSB component, was developed using a community-based participatory research process. Comparisons were made between those who attended the health promotion plus CBSB intervention and those who attended ...