Sample and recruitment

Focus group recruitment occurred in three urban areas of California (North, Central, and South) with a purposive sample of urban AI/AN community members (parents, providers, and emerging adults). Eligibility for emerging adults and parents included self-identification as AI/AN and residence in an area outside of a reservation or tribal land. Focus groups were held between November 2019 and February 2020. Providers were eligible based on having experience treating AOD among AI/AN emerging adults; providers did not necessarily self-identify as AI/AN. The project team collaborated with a community organization, Sacred Path Indigenous Wellness Center (SPIWC), to recruit focus group participants through flyers at community events across California and word of mouth. Focus group participants were offered a $50 gift card for their two-hour time commitment. Similar recruitment procedures were used to recruit emerging adults for the 3-hour virtual workshops, which took place in July and August 2020. Pilot workshop participants received $100 gift cards. Focus groups were moderated by five different project team researchers–including 2 who are AI/AN (Inupiaq and Wahpeton Dakota)—representing a mixture of disciplines (cultural anthropology, clinical psychology, addiction psychiatry, and health policy and management). Prior to starting each group discussion, group moderators introduced themselves as members of the research team and informed participants of their rights as voluntary participants in a research study. All recruitment materials, data collection, informed consent, and analysis plans were approved by the lead author’s Institutional Review Board.