Moving from ethnography to epidemiology: lessons learned in Appalachia
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Anthropologists are beginning to translate insights from ethnography into tools for population studies that assess the role of culture in human behavior, biology, and health. AIM: We describe several lessons learned in the creation and administration of an ethnographically-based instrument to assess the life course perspectives of Appalachian youth, the Life Trajectory Interview for Youth (LTI-Y). Then, we explore the utility of the LTI-Y in predicting depressive symptoms, controlling for prior depressive symptoms and severe negative life events throughout the life course. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In a sample of 319 youths (190 White, 129 Cherokee), we tested the association between depressive symptoms and two domains of the LTI-Y - life course barriers and milestones. Longitudinal data on prior depressive symptoms and negative life events were included in the model. RESULTS: The ethnographically-based scales of life course barriers and milestones were associated with unique variance in depressive symptoms, together accounting for 11% of the variance in this outcome. CONCLUSION: When creating ethnographically-based instruments, it is important to strike a balance between detailed, participant-driven procedures and the analytic needs of hypothesis testing. Ethnographically-based instruments have utility for predicting health outcomes in longitudinal studies.
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- Authors
- Brown, R. A., Kuzara, J., Copeland, W. E., Costello, E. J., Angold, A., & Worthman, C. M.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Emory University (US)
- Duke University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, Ryan A.
- Venue
- Annals of Human Biology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-01-01
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 248-260
- ISSN
- 0301-4460 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-5033
- PMC
- PMC2868371
- OpenAlex
- W2144065613
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 3.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Annals of Human Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH064253, K23MH080230, R01MH063671)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA011301)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › Appalachian Studies and Mathematics
- Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
- Keywords
- depressive symptoms, negative life events, Cherokee Indians, culture and health, instrument development, life course perspective
- MeSH terms
- Acculturation, Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Adult, Anthropology, Cultural, Appalachian Region, Child, Psychology, Child, Culture, Data Collection, Depression, Epidemiology, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Indians, North American, Interviews as Topic, Life Change Events, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Focus Groups, Cultural Diversity, White People
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