OBJECTIVE

Indigenous youth often exhibit high rates of alcohol use and experience disproportionate alcohol-related harm. We examined the moderating role that valuing cultural activities has on the relationship between positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use and heavy drinking in a sample of Indigenous youth.

METHOD

First Nation adolescents between ages 11 and 18 living on a reserve in eastern Canada (N = 106; mean age = 14.6; 50.0% female) completed a pencil-and-paper survey regarding their positive alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and beliefs about the importance of cultural activities.

RESULTS

A significant interaction was identified between positive alcohol expectancies and valuing cultural activities on past-3-month alcohol use (b = -0.01, SE = 0.001, p < .001) and past-3-month heavy drinking (b = -0.01, SE = 0.001, p < .001). Simple slopes analysis revealed that the association between positive alcohol expectancies and past-3-month alcohol use and heavy drinking was significant for those with low (b = 0.06, SE = 0.007, p < .001; b = 0.07, SE = 0.008, p < .001; respectively) but not high levels of valuing cultural activities (b = 0.01, SE = 0.008, p = .12; b = 0.01, SE = 0.009, p = .08; respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Highly valuing cultural activities may interrupt the relationship between positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use. This suggests that community interventions and treatment programs targeting alcohol use among Indigenous adolescents should prioritize increasing the value of cultural activities by perhaps making them more available.