HOP Scientific Partnership with the Cherokee Nation Featured at Society for Prevention Research Annual Meeting

A collaborative research team of individuals from the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy and Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health will present their recent research results on underage alcohol use at the Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on May 26-29.

The research team, comprised of Kelli Komro, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy; Alexander Wagenaar, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy; Doug Livingston, Ph.D., assistant research scientist in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy; Sarah Landsman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy; Chris Delcher, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy; Mildred Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy; Brady Garrett, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy and counseling psychologist intern with Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Misty Boyd, Ph.D. licensed psychologist with Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Terrence Kominsky, Ph.D., evaluation coordinator with Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; BJ Boyd, Ph.D., licensed psychologist with Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Judith Arroyo, Ph.D., minority health and health disparities coordinator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; and Kathleen Etz, Ph.D., health science administrator in the Epidemiology Research Branch and Chair of the American Indian and Alaska Native Coordinating Committee for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, will host a poster forum entitled “Socio-Environmental Risks for American Indian and White Adolescents: Epidemiological and Etiological Results from the Prevention Trial in the Cherokee Nation.”

The Society for Prevention Research and the American Indian and Alaska Native Coordinating Committee of the National Institute on Drug Abuse have also selected Garrett to receive money towards the expenses associated with attending the SPR 23rd Annual Meeting and presenting at the research forum.

“I’m really excited and fortunate to have received the NIDA travel award to attend SPR,” Garrett said. “Not only does it help to offset the cost of attending the conference, but it will also connect me with top prevention scientists who have conducted research on topics and areas that strongly align with my own research interests. Attending SPR will be an exciting learning experience for me as an aspiring prevention scientist.”

The poster forum will highlight several aspects of the joint research project, which aims to prevent underage drinking and associated negative consequences among American Indian and other youth in underserved communities. The SPR Diversity Network Committee selected the poster forum to be a featured session at the annual meeting. The featured session, consisting of seven posters, seeks to encourage discussion on the alcohol-related risks and consequences among at-risk youth.

Despite advances in prevention science and practice in recent decades, the U.S. continues to struggle with significant alcohol-related risks and consequences among youth, especially among vulnerable rural and American Indian youth. The Prevention Trial in the Cherokee Nation is a partnership between prevention scientists and Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health to create, implement, and evaluate a new, integrated community-level intervention designed to prevent underage drinking and associated negative consequences among American Indian and other youth living in rural high-risk underserved communities.

Featured posters include:

Fifteen-Minute Comprehensive Alcohol Risk Survey: Reliability and Validity Across American Indian and White Adolescents

Melvin D. Livingston, Ph.D., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Kelli Ann Komro, Ph.D., University of Florida; Terrence Kominsky, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Bethany Livingston, B.S., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Brady Garrett, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation; Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., University of Florida; Misty L. Boyd, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health

Gender Differences in Substance Use Trajectories Among American Indian and White High School Students

Sarah D. Lynne-Landsman, Ph.D., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Kelli Ann Komro, Ph.D., University of Florida; Misty L. Boyd, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Terrence Kominsky, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Brady Garrett, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation; Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., University of Florida

Prescription Drug Misuse Among American Indian and White High School Students

Chris Delcher, Ph.D., University of Florida; Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., University of Florida; Brady Garrett, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation; Misty L. Boyd, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Kelli Ann Komro, Ph.D., University of Florida

Risk for DUI Among American Indian and White Adolescents

Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., University of Florida; Wesley G. Jennings, Ph.D., University of South Florida; Terrence Kominsky, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Chris Delcher, Ph.D., University of Florida; Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., University of Florida

High Cultural Identity Associated with Lower Alcohol Use Among American Indian Adolescents

Brady Garrett, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation; Kelli Ann Komro, Ph.D., University of Florida; Melvin D. Livingston, Ph.D., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., University of Florida; B.J. Boyd, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Substance Use Among Youth Living in Indian Country

Bethany Livingston, B.S., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Melvin D. Livingston, Ph.D., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; B.J. Boyd, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Kelli Ann Komro, Ph.D., University of Florida

Alcohol Sales to Youth: Data from Rural Communities within the Cherokee Nation

Sarah D. Lynne-Landsman, Ph.D., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Terrence Kominsky, Ph.D., Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health; Melvin D. Livingston, Ph.D., Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida; Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., University of Florida; Kelli Ann Komro, Ph.D., University of Florida

“We’re excited to have the opportunity for our partnership and research findings to be highlighted by SPR’s Diversity Network Committee,” said Komro, who also serves as associate director of the Institute for Child Health Policy. “Our partnership with the Cherokee Nation has given us the opportunity to implement a rigorously designed intervention trial in underserved communities, and we are confident that the study will prove of interest to many of our SPR colleagues.”

In addition to the poster forum, Wagenaar and Komro will give an oral presentation on their social determinants policy work, focusing on the impact of family-economic policies, such as minimum wage and unemployment compensation, on health outcomes. They will also lead an interest group roundtable discussion on collecting and measuring laws for health research.

The research team’s work contributes to SPR’s goal of facilitating the exchange of new concepts, methods, and results from prevention research and related public health fields to create a wellness-oriented society in which evidence-based programs and policies are continuously applied to improve health. The 23rd annual meeting will bring together more than 800 U.S. and international researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners under one common theme: integrating prevention science and public policy.

For more information on the 2015 annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, click here.