American Indian adolescents are a profoundly stressed population. Nationally, they experience the highest rates of most risks and stressors which may confront youth; for example, poverty; parental death; higher incidence of high school drop outs, and, by the 12th grade, a higher daily alcohol consumption by males than their non-Indian peers. The suicide rate of young Indian males is two to three times the national average. Although there is heterogeneity across Indian nations, epidemiological data suggest that reservation-dwelling Northern Plains adolescents, when compared with their non-Indian peers, evidence a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder. In an effort to inform prevention and intervention efforts for American Indian adolescents, the current analysis sought to identify protective factors, which would predict resilience (behavioral competence and absence of a psychiatric diagnosis) in the presence of stressful life events. This study considered data from 61 Northern Plains American Indian adolescents (34 women and 27 men) from the second wave of the Flower of Two Soils study, for whom complete data were available. The adolescents considered in this study did not differ on sociodemographic variables from the larger sample (n=109). The mean age of the sample was 15 years. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the stress-moderating mechanisms (protective factor model and vulnerability factor model) of Maternal and Paternal relationship quality and Northern Plains traditionalism in the prediction of resilience.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to identify the protective and vulnerabililty relationships of parental relationship quality and traditionalism in the prediction of resilience among a sample of Northern Plains adolescents.
Keywords: Adolescents, Mental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.