# Tribal Reservation Adolescent Connections Study

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2022 · $194,512

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
American Indian (AI) youth demonstrate early initiation of substance use and subsequently high rates of
substance misuse. One factor contributing to ongoing risk for these youth is the relative lack of prevention
strategies that leverage contextual and cultural strengths to optimize effectiveness and sustainability. Rich
cultural and traditional practices, including collateral kinship networks, make interpersonal relationships
particularly vital for AI youth, but these networks are largely untapped in prevention approaches. Research in
other populations demonstrates the role of social networks in both risk and resilience, but data on AI social
networks is sparse and data on how networks relate to risk for early substance use virtually nonexistent. There
are reasons to suspect that social network theories may require some adaptation for the culture and context of
AI communities. To effectively inform interventions, we must first confirm which principles translate well and
create new metrics where needed. This mixed-methods study will collect quantitative social network surveys
and qualitative interviews with adolescents on a Northern Plains reservation to explore how these networks are
structured and the principles under which they operate. Network characteristics will be examined in relation to
substance use and related risk factors, most notably suicide and exposure to violence, to begin to understand
how networks impact both risk and resilience. Network characteristics are likely to influence substance use,
exposure to violence, and suicide risk in complex ways that are shared in both common and differential
patterns. An explanatory sequential mixed method design (QUAN → Qual) will be used to accomplish two
specific aims: Aim 1: Describe peer, kinship, and community social networks of AI adolescents.
Hypothesis: Standard metrics of social networks will require modification to characterize social networks of AI
adolescents; networks will have less homophily and more intergenerational and community relationships. Aim
2: Explore how social network characteristics predict risk and protective factors for substance use
independently and in combination with violence and suicide. Hypothesis: Risk and protective
characteristics of youth networks will be related in both common and unique ways to substance use, violence
and suicidality. This project will be led by a multidisciplinary team of early stage Principal Investigators who are
themselves American Indian and Alaska Native. These researchers have substantive expertise in substance
use, exposure to violence and suicide among AIs, methodological expertise in community-engaged research
with tribal communities, social network theory and analyses, and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods
approaches. This project leadership team will be supported by a senior researcher with extensive experience
in most of the areas relevant to this study and 18 years’ experience conducting research...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10381606
- **Project number:** 5R21DA053789-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Jerreed Dean Ivanich
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $194,512
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10381606

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10381606, Tribal Reservation Adolescent Connections Study (5R21DA053789-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10381606. Licensed CC0.

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