Cherokee Talking Circle
Problems addressed
Drug abuse
Externalizing behaviors/problems
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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Life periods served
Teenagers (14 to 17 years)
Where the program was applied
Education establishment
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a program to prevent drug abuse among Native American teenage students, taking into account their cultural particularities.
The intervention takes place at school and consists of ten 45-minute sessions per week. The meetings, in a talking circle format, are led by a counselor with the participation of students from the Keetoowah-Cherokee people and a cultural expert.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation showed that the program is effective to reduce substance use and the problems associated with their consumption, compared to other substance use education programs that do not take into account the culture of the intervention participants [1].
The study had a quasi-experimental design with a sample of 92 students assigned to the intervention group and 87 students assigned to the comparison group, participating only in the standard substance use education program [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Lowe, J., Liang, H., Riggs, C., Henson, J. & Elder, T. (2012). Community partnership to affect substance abuse among Native American adolescents. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 38(5), 450–455. https://doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2012.694534

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