Kipiyecipakiciipe (“coming home”)

A study protocol for a multi-method investigation of culturally grounded resilience against substance-use among Shawnee adults

Bibliographic Data

ID22078001
AuthorsEvan J White (0000-0003-4760-7398, Tulsa Community College, corresponding author), Ryan Tomm, Ryan J Tomm (Laureate Institute for Brain Research), Victoria M O’keefe (0000-0003-0560-4316, Johns Hopkins University), Danielle Bethel (Laureate Institute for Brain Research), Danielle L Bethel, Gabe Cochran (0009-0003-0948-067X, Oklahoma State University at Tulsa), Makiah Torres (Laureate Institute for Brain Research), Fiona Grubin (0000-0002-9181-1997, Johns Hopkins University), Maisie Conrad (Johns Hopkins University), Nicole Baughman (Laureate Institute for Brain Research), Nicole R Baughman, Andrea Wiglesworth (0000-0001-8538-9243, Laureate Institute for Brain Research), Xi Ren (0000-0003-4814-5260, Laureate Institute for Brain Research), Wesley Vaught, Wesley J B Vaught (0000-0003-0708-801X, Laureate Institute for Brain Research)
Year2025
Volume13
Pages1663919-1663919
Publication date2025-10-30
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2025.1663919
PMID41246066
OpenAlexW4415684369
LanguageEN
References cited19

Background American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) peoples bear the highest U.S. burden of substance-use disorder (SUD) and drug-overdose mortality. Mechanistic evidence linking community-defined cultural protective factors to neurobehavioral pathways of SUD risk is virtually absent. Most AI/AN health studies are descriptive and rarely integrate neuroscience. Objectives The Kipiyecipakiciipe (“coming home”) project aims to (i) operationalize Shawnee-defined cultural engagement variables, (ii) test their associations with neurobehavioral markers of reward, decision-making, and self-regulation, and (iii) establish evidence base for tribally guided prevention and recovery strategies. Methods Guided by community-based participatory research, the three-phase multi-method protocol combines qualitative inquiry, a Community Readiness Assessment (CRA), and multimodal neuroimaging. Phase 1 included 22 Shawnee adults and employed N = 3 focus-group discussions (including Nominal Group Technique) and N = 1 in-depth interview to generate an operational lexicon of cultural protective factors and to adapt a Community Needs Assessment (CNA). Phase 2 enrolls 90 Shawnee adults in a simultaneous functional MRI/electro-encephalography (fMRI/EEG) battery comprising culturally tailored picture and audio paradigms, a Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task, a three-arm bandit task, and the Horizon exploration task. Self-report scales assess cultural identity, mental health, substance use, impulsivity, and risk. Parallel CRA interviews ( n = 12) quantify community readiness for SUD interventions across six dimensions. Phase 3 will recruit Shawnee citizens with lived SUD experience to examine whether cultural, behavioral, and neural markers predict recovery-related outcomes (e.g., craving, self-efficacy). Discussion By integrating community insight with state-of-the-art neuroimaging under Tribal governance, this protocol addresses critical knowledge gaps in Indigenous SUD research, models CARE-aligned data stewardship and establishes a transferable framework for culturally grounded precision substance use prevention

Community resilience · Culturally sensitive · Grounded theory · Indigenous · Psychological resilience · Qualitative research · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Traumatic Brain Injury Research

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