Relationship of Social Network to Protective Factors in Suicide and Alcohol Use Disorder Intervention for Rural Yup'ik Alaska Native Youth.
Suicide and alcohol use disorders are significant Alaska Native health disparities, yet there is limited understanding of protection and no studies of social network factors in protection in this or other populations. The Qungasvik intervention enhances protective factors from suicide and alcohol use disorders through activities grounded in Yup'ik cultural practices and values. Identification of social network factors associated with protection within the cultural context of these tight, close knit, and high density rural Yup'ik Alaska Native communities in southwest Alaska can help identify effective prevention strategies for suicide and alcohol use disorder risk. Using data from ego-centered social network and protective factors from suicide and alcohol use disorders surveys with 50 Yup'ik adolescents, we provide descriptive data on structural and network composition variables, identify key network variables that explain major proportions of the variance in a four principal component structure of these network variables, and demonstrate the utility of these key network variables as predictors of family and community protective factors from suicide and alcohol use disorder risk. Connections to adults and connections to elders, but not peer connections, emerged as predictors of family and community level protection, suggesting these network factors as important intervention targets for intervention.
Center for Alaska Native Health Research, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Jacques
J
Philip
Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association.
Tara
T
Ford
Department of Psychology and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
David
D
Henry
Center for Alaska Native Health Research, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Stacy
S
Rasmus
University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus.
James
J
Allen
American Indian / Alaska Native; alcohol use disorder; prevention; social networks; suicide