Talking Circle for Native American Youth (AYoLi)

Talking Circle for Native American Youth Living Well (AYoLi)

Native American youth have higher rates of depression and lifetime major depressive episodes, and, by age 11, are more likely to have initiated alcohol and substance use than any other racial/ethnic group. The COVID19 pandemic only compounded this suffering--anxiety, stress, depression, substance use, and suicide related mental health disorders skyrocketed in many Native American communities, especially among youth. Though many are desperate for help, treatment options are scarce to non-existent. To meet this urgent need, our overarching objective is to leverage the empirically proven, highly effective, school based, Talking Circle intervention to promote the mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health of geographically diverse (rural, urban) Native American youth. This study, "Talking Circle for Native American Youth Living Well (A Yo Li)" uses a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to evaluate Talking Circle effectiveness, partnering with the United Keetoowah Band (UKB) of Cherokee Indians Tribe in Oklahoma, with members living in two geographically diverse areas, Adair County (rural), and Tulsa City (urban). "A Yo Li" in the UKB tribal language means "youth".

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Health Wellness 1; Emotional Stress; Behavior, Health
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Talking Circle intervention

Detailed Description

Specific aims for Phase 1 (UG3) include:

UG3 Aim 1. To inform adaptation of the school-based Talking Circle intervention, a Community Partnership Committee (CPC) of UKB members will be developed to conduct a needs/asset mapping process to assess the needs, priorities, and resources for MEB health of UKB youth, paying special attention to the nuances of cultural difference between rural and urban UKB communities in Oklahoma.

UG3 Aim 2. To conduct a Talking Circle intervention Facilitator Training Program with rural and urban UKB tribal community members to catalyze capacity building and sustainability for future intervention.

UG3 Aim 3. To pilot the adapted evidenced-based Talking Circle intervention for the promotion of MEB health among (N=20) 10 to 12 year-olds UKB youth in Oklahoma.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oklahoma
    • Tahlequah, Oklahoma, United States, 74464
      • United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Native American students
• English speakers
• Read and write English
• At risk for mental health and behavioral health issues

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not Native American
• Non-English speakers
• Not able to read and write English
• Not at risk for mental health or behavioral health issues

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Mental Health Wellness 1; Talking Circle Intervention to promote the mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being	Behavioral: Talking Circle intervention; Talking Circle intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Native Reliance Questionnaire (NRQ)	24-items rated on a 5-point Likert scale to evaluate the presence of Native Reliance cultural identity; (minimum score of 24; maximum score of 120); higher score indicates a better outcome	Baseline and 3 month post-intervention
Global Assessment of Individual Needs-Quick (GAIN-Q)	Subscales: Anxiety (7-items), ( minimum score of 0; maximum score of 7; lower score indicates better outcome) Stress (20-items; minimum score of 0; maximum score of 20; lower score indiciates better outcome) and Substance Use (16-items; minimum score of 0; maximum score of 16; lower score indicates better outcome)	Baseline and 3 month post-intervention
Commercial Tobacco Use	Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) a 43 item measure to assess key tobacco-control indicators, minimum score of 0; maximum score of 43 including use, cessation, and availability; lower score indicates better outcome	baseline and 3 month post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Depression	Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R-10) a 10 item measure of depressed affect used in samples of NA youth with good reliability and validity (minimum score of 6; maximum score of 24) higher score is a worse outcome and lower score is a better outcome	baseline and 3 month post-intervention
Suicide Ideation	Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-Junior (SIQ-JR-15),15-items is rated on a 7-point scale indicating the frequency of suicidal thoughts, showing excellent validity and reliability, and an effective predictor of suicide risks in the Native American adolescent population (minimum score of 15 maximum score 105); the higher score indicates the greater risk of suicidal Ideation and lower score indicates lower risk of suicidal ideation.	baseline and 3 month post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
• Collaborators: National Institutes of Health (NIH); National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 3, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2025
• Last Verified: January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: mental well-being; emotional well-being; behavioral well-being
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00004266; 1UG3AT012547-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No