Abstract
Researchers are interested in the outcomes of interventions, specifically, measuring historical trauma (HT) among American Indian/Alaska Native communities and the long-term distress and substance abuse as a result of historical trauma response (HTR). Previous literature has implicated limitations in the clinical conceptualization of the relationship between intergenerational transfer of HTR and substance abuse. The aim of the current study is to examine treatment efficacy of 50 homosexual, American Indian males randomized to a culturally-adapted juxtaposition of (1) Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), (2) Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and (3) Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention (HTUG), or (4) waitlisted on American Indian populations, with and without comorbid Substance Use Disorder (SUD). In a multiple-arm randomized controlled trial Fifty homosexual, male AI participants will be recruited from a Midwestern, American Indian reservation and compensated a small monetary reward. A multitude of surveys and scales will be administered to participants for assessment including, The Historical Loss Scale(HLS)and its counterpart Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale(HLASS), which qualitatively measure historical trauma. Results are expected to reveal a reduction in mean HT scores from the group receiving a conjunction of a 2-arm culturally-congruent intervention which will be statistically significantly more efficacious for Substance Use Disorder (SUD), compared to the group in the waitlisted condition; such that, the expected findings suggest the treatment arm group are more likely to experience large reductions in incidence of substance abuse, in contrast to the group in the waitlist control