Childhood abuse related to alcoholism in Native...( reported childhood experiences while ...),Health

Koss and colleagues also found that women who knew more about their tribal languages had a higher risk of alcohol problems, while women who lived close to their tribal communities were less likely to abuse alcohol. However, these same influences did not significantly affect men's likelihood of alcohol problems.

"The women's language finding is hard to interpret because with our data, we can't say which came first, alcohol problems or language skills. It could be that the language facility was learned in tribal sobriety programs and was not a precursor to alcoholism," Koss says.

Based on their findings, the researchers highlight the need to develop social programs for reservation-based families to lessen exposure to adult drinking and to establish intensive preventive education on childhood sexual abuse.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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Contact: Mary Koss
mpk@u.arizona.edu
520-626-9502
Center for the Advancement of Health
17-Sep-2003