Alcohol Use Interventions among American Indian/Alaska Native Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Alcohol use disorder is a major issue that disproportionately affects American Indian and Alaskan Native communities. There have been recent calls to help address these disparities by providing evidence-based interventions. In this paper, we contribute to these efforts by providing a meta-analysis of studies concerning the available evidence of the effectiveness of programs aimed at alcohol consumption reduction in American Indians and Alaskan Natives. We searched the literature from 2003 to 2018 and included 26 studies in the meta-analysis. Two meta-analyses were conducted because of differences in experimental designs. The first involved one-sample studies that examined the percent of participants who consumed alcohol at the end of treatment (k = 9, mean proportion = .6, 95% CI = .49 -.73, z = 9.8, p < .001). The second involved pre and posttest of alcohol consumption behavior with a significant reduction in alcohol consumption behaviors (k = 16, standardized mean gain = -0.68, 95% CI = -1.05 - -0.32, z = 3.69, p < .001). The meta-analyses highlight the current challenges associated with measuring the effectiveness of these treatment programs and give empirically informed advice about some possible future avenues.