Social Determinants of Prenatal Substance Use

This project centers the voices and lived experiences of American Indian women to better understand the social, cultural, and environmental factors that shape prenatal behavioral health.

Overview

The Indigenous Determinants of Prenatal Substance Use project uses photovoice participatory action research (PAR) to center the first-person perspectives of American Indian women on the factors that shape their health and well-being during pregnancy.

Through photography and storytelling, participants identify community-defined protective and risk factors—access to care, family and community support, cultural strengths, and substance use—creating community-driven insights that will inform recommendations for prenatal behavioral health practices.

A scoping review of existing interventions designed to promote prenatal behavioral health among American Indian populations will also be conducted to identify gaps and better understand how social, economic, and environmental factors are addressed.

Participants Wanted

Compensation will be provided for photovoice participation.

Complete brief eligibility survey

Eligibility

• Have you been pregnant and given birth within the past 5 years?
• Do you self-identify as American Indian and 18 years or older?

Building on Prior Research

This project builds on the pilot study: Social Determinants of Indigenous Prenatal Drug Use: Trauma and Resilience

The pilot study used a two-phase explanatory design:

1. Literature Synthesis: Critically synthesized existing research on the social and historical determinants of prenatal substance use
2. Data Analysis: Using the North Dakota Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data (2017–2021), examined how resilience patterns across social determinants of health relate to tobacco and marijuana use during pregnancy

Funding & Support

This work is the Indigenous Trauma and Resilience Research Center (ITRRC) Grant Program, supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P20GM139759.

Project Team

Principal Investigator

June-Yung Kim

Collaborators

• Wendelin Hume
• Loretta Heuer
• Jacque Gray
• Sonia Minnes

Contact

For questions or more information about this project, please contact: