Cultural Connectedness and Its Relation to Mental Wellness for First Nations Youth

Abstract

We explored the interrelationships among components of cultural connectedness (i.e., identity, traditions, and spirituality) and First Nations youth mental health using a brief version of the original Cultural Connectedness Scale. Participants included 290 First Nations youth (M = 14.4) who were recruited from both urban and rural school settings in Saskatchewan and Southwestern Ontario. We performed a confirmatory factor analysis of the Cultural Connectedness Scale-Short Version (CCS-S) items to investigate the factor stability of the construct in our sample. We examined the relationships between the CCS-S subscales and self-efficacy, sense of self (present and future), school connectedness, and life satisfaction using hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses to establish the validity of the abbreviated measure. The results revealed that cultural connectedness, as measured by the 10-item CCS-S, had strong associations with the mental health indicators assessed and, in some cases, was associated with First Nations youth mental health above and beyond other social determinants of health. Our results extend findings from previous research on cultural connectedness by elucidating the meaning of its components and demonstrate the importance of culture for positive youth development.

Psychometric Examination of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale with Older American Indians: The Native Elder Care Study

“…AI/AN early adolescents reported significantly less school belongingness, and although we were unable to test for causal relationships because these were cross sectional analyses, feeling less connected to the school system may be related to depression and anxiety or vice versa. Although cultural connectedness was not assessed in this study, previous research has found that cultural connectedness was positively associated with school belongingness (Snowshoe, Crooks, Tremblay, & Hinson, 2016). We also found that AI/AN early adolescents reported more perceived racial discrimination than non-Hispanic Whites, and this level was similar to other racial/ethnic minorities.…”

Land and nature as sources of health and resilience among Indigenous youth in an urban Canadian context: a photovoice exploration

“…The youth also learned through the seasons that change is a natural part of life, and therefore, in the face of change and difficulties, they have to adapt and move on to accomplish a goal. Overall, then, this exploration builds on and can inform strengths-based work in the area of urban Indigenous youth well-being and resilience [67,68].…”

“…As a result, population and community-based health researchers have explored resilience promoting factors beyond the individual level, to consider from a social ecological perspective these different levels and youth-environment interactions [22, 46-49, 51, 70]. Similarly, Indigenous-specific resilience research have also explored resilience-building process that emphasized the importance of culture, identity, community, family, spirituality, and Indigenous worldviews as integral factors that enhances resilience [18,48,67,68]. Although we do not deny the individual role of these resilience factors in facilitating better health and wellbeing of youth [51], it remains important to not only understand the intersecting relationships among these individual, structural, and social factors involved in resilience, but also to examine the relatively unexplored areas of Indigenous youth meaning-making connections to "land" or nature within urban contexts and how they can also play a role in supporting resilience and well-being.…”

The Culture is Prevention Project: Measuring Culture As a Social Determinant of Mental Health for Native/Indigenous Peoples

“…2 (Boomsma, 1982;Green, 1984). Model fit as well as model comparison were conducted; as expected, and as found in Snowshoe et al (2015Snowshoe et al ( & 2017, the three-factor There were two items that did not have significant factor loading. Item 10: "I plan on trying to find out more about my Native/Indigenous culture, such as history, Tribal identity, traditions, customs, art and language (.281)."…”

“…ineffectiveness of many Western modalities in reducing health and social disparities for Indigenous communities (Tucker et al, 2016;Walters & Mohammed et al, 2011;McCormick, 1995). Given this, restoration and reconnection to the strengthening of culture or Indigenous/Native identity, is an important part of the solution (Chandler & Lalonde, 1998;Chandler, 2014;Coser, Sittner, Walls, & Handeland, 2018;Gone, 2009;Snowshoe et al, 2017;Snowshoe et al, 2015). However, a paradigm shift in the dominant culture is also needed.…”