A Cautionary Tale: Examining the Interplay of Culturally Specific Risk and Resilience Factors in Indigenous Communities

Authors

Melissa L. Walls, University of Minnesota - CrookstonFollow
Les B. Whitbeck, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Brian E. Armenta, University of MissouriFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

Published in Clinical Psychological Science 4:4 (2016), pp 732–743. doi 10.1177/2167702616645795

Comments

Copyright © 2016 Melissa L. Walls, Les Whitbeck, and Brian Armenta. Published by SAGE Publications & The Association for Psychological Science. Used by permission.

Abstract

Efforts to build empirical evidence for the protective effects of Indigenous cultural factors on psychological health have yielded mixed findings. We examine the interplay of previously hypothesized culturally relevant risk (discrimination, historical loss) and protective (spiritual activities) factors among Indigenous people. The sample includes 569 Indigenous adolescents (mean age = 17.23, SD = 0.88; 51.0% girls) and 563 Indigenous adult caregivers (mean age = 44.66, SD = 9.18; 77.4% women). Our central finding was that indigenous spirituality was associated with poorer psychological outcomes across several domains (depressive symptoms, anger, anxiety, somatization, and interpersonal difficulties), but observed effects were attenuated once perceived discrimination and historical losses were added to statistical models. Thus, consideration of relevant stressors drastically changed our conclusions, underscoring the uncertain dynamics through which specific Indigenous cultural factors impact mental health. Researchers should work in collaboration with Indigenous communities to improve measurement and empirical investigation of these complex constructs.