Utilizing Drumming for American Indians/Alaska Natives with Substance Use Disorders: A Focus Group Study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Drumming has been utilized among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes for centuries to promote healing and self-expression. Drum-Assisted Recovery Therapy for Native Americans (DARTNA), currently under development, is a substance abuse treatment utilizing drumming as a core component. OBJECTIVES: Focus groups were conducted to assist in the development of the DARTNA protocol. Feedback obtained from these focus groups will inform a subsequent pretest of DARTNA and an empirical study analyzing its effectiveness. METHODS: Three focus groups were conducted among AIs/ANs with substance use disorders (n = 6), substance abuse treatment providers (n = 8), and a community advisory board (n = 4) to solicit feedback prior to a pretest of the DARTNA protocol. RESULTS: Overall, participants indicated that DARTNA could be beneficial for AIs/ANs with substance use disorders. Four overarching conceptual themes emerged across the focus groups: (1) benefits of drumming, (2) importance of a culture-based focus, (3) addressing gender roles in drumming activities, and (4) providing a foundation of common AI/AN traditions. CONCLUSIONS: The DARTNA protocol is a potentially beneficial and culturally appropriate substance abuse treatment strategy for AIs/ANs. In order to optimize the potential benefits of a substance abuse treatment protocol utilizing drumming for AIs/ANs, adequate attention to tribal diversity and gender roles is needed. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Due to the shortage of substance abuse treatments utilizing traditional healing activities for AIs/ANs, including drumming, results from this study provide an opportunity to develop an intervention that may meet the unique treatment needs of AIs/ANs.
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Developing a strong ethnic identity, and holding and passing on knowledge of the culture, traditions, and languages through generations has been particularly protective among AIANs.
“Developing a strong ethnic identity, and holding and passing on knowledge of the culture, traditions, and languages through generations has been particularly protective among this population.”
From Substance and Behavioral Addictions among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations (2022) · cites this paper as [102]
The Results (‘Benefits of Drumming’; page unavailable) report participants’ view that developing cultural identity and connecting with culture could help AI/AN people with substance use disorders. The paper does not address language preservation or passing cultural knowledge between generations, and it does not establish a protective effect across AI/AN populations generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEngaging in culturally healing practices (e.g., sweats) and utilizing medicines (e.g., sage, sweet grass) support recovery and promote well-being.
“Engaging in culturally healing practices (e.g., sweats) and utilizing medicines (e.g., sage, sweet grass) support recovery and promote well-being [24,102,103].”
From Substance and Behavioral Addictions among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations (2022) · cites this paper as [102]
The Introduction (page unavailable) identifies sage preparation among Indigenous healing methods proposed as promising for reducing substance abuse, and the Results describe participants’ views of drumming as healing. The paper does not address sweats or sweet grass, and its focus-group findings do not establish that these practices support recovery and well-being. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredReconnecting with the Native culture, building internal strengths, coping resources, and relying on extended social networks and multi-generational relationships assist AIANs with navigating the historical and every day hardships experienced.
“Reconnecting with the Native culture, building internal strengths, coping resources, and relying on extended social networks and multi-generational relationships assist AIANs with navigating the historical and every day hardships experienced [102,104,105].”
From Substance and Behavioral Addictions among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations (2022) · cites this paper as [102]
The Discussion (page not provided) says a culturally based drumming program could help participants grow in cultural identity, and the Results describe a possible self-esteem benefit for urban AI/AN participants recovering from substance use. The paper does not establish that extended social networks or multigenerational relationships help AI/ANs navigate historical and everyday hardships, and its proposed benefits are narrower than the citing sentence suggests. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredOf the three qualitative studies, two (66.67%) were rated a bias rating of 5.
“Of the three qualitative studies, two (66.67%) were rated a bias rating of 5 (Dickerson et al., 2012; Edwards, 2003)”
From Culturally tailored substance use interventions for Indigenous people of North America: a systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as Dickerson et al., 2012
In total, seven studies (38.89%) were rated a bias rating of 5.
“In total, seven studies (38.89%) were rated a bias rating of 5 (Burduli et al., 2018; Dickerson et al., 2012; Edwards, 2003; Pearson et al., 2019; Ray et al., 2020; Running Bear et al., 2017; Tonigan et al., 2020)”
From Culturally tailored substance use interventions for Indigenous people of North America: a systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as Dickerson et al., 2012
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- Authors
- Dickerson, D., Robichaud, F., Teruya, C., Nagaran, K., & Hser, Y.-I.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Lake County (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dickerson, Daniel
- Venue
- The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-08-29
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 505-510
- ISSN
- 0095-2990 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-9891
- PMC
- PMC3725997
- OpenAlex
- W2009329074
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R03DA025291)
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (R21AT005360)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Keywords
- drumming, substance use disorders, traditional healing, gender roles, tribal diversity, community advisory board
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alaska, Cultural Characteristics, Female, Humans, Indians, North American, Male, Medicine, Traditional, Middle Aged, Music Therapy, Sex Factors, United States, Focus Groups, Substance-Related Disorders
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