Experiences and Correlates of Violence Among American Indian and Alaska Native Youth: A Brief Report

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to document the scope and correlates of past 6-month victimization among American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) youth. Types of victimization under investigation included sexual assault, dating violence, bullying, sharing of nude photos, sexual harassment, homophobic teasing, and racism. Participants were 400 AI and AN youth in grades 7–10 who completed a survey in school. Results documented concerning rates of all forms of victimization among AI and AN youth during the past 6 months. Although most forms of victimization were related, bullying (at school and electronically), racism, and sexual harassment occurred more often than sexual assault and dating violence. Older youth, girls, and sexual minorities were more likely to report some forms of violence than younger youth, boys, and heterosexual youth respectively. Compared to nonvictims, victim status was consistently related to depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and alcohol use and was less consistently correlated with feelings of school mattering. Evidence-based, culturally grounded prevention and response efforts are needed for AI and AN youth, as well as broader initiatives that seek to reduce health disparities among AI and AN youth.

An Introduction, Review, and Conceptual Analysis of Mattering as an Essential Construct and an Essential Way of Life

“…Several case accounts implicate feelings of not mattering in suicide attempts and deaths due to suicide (e.g., Addington & Mancuso, 2009;Nolle et al, 2012) and going beyond these cases and anecdotal reports, there is some initial research that links low mattering with suicidality (Elliott et al, 2005;Joiner et al, 2009;Milner et al, 2016), including suicidal behaviors (Holden et al, 2018). New research links mattering at school with less suicide ideation among American Indian and Alaskan native youth (Edwards et al, 2020).…”

“…A new investigation based on survey data from almost 25,000 high school youth from New Hampshire links physical and sexual violence in dating situations with feelings of not mattering in one's community (Edwards & Neal, 2017). Other research with youth also links feelings of not mattering with a reported history of interpersonal victimization (see Hamby et al, 2020) while acknowledging the role of mattering at school in reducing the likelihood of being a victim (Edwards et al, 2020).…”

Effectiveness of a Sexual Assault Self-defense Program for American Indian Girls

“…The girls in the city (comparison) sample were on average 13.7 years old (range = 12 to 18; SD = 1.29), in grades 6 to 12 (median = 8th, SD = 1.07), and the majority identified as heterosexual (80.1%). The girls in the city sample come from a larger multiple baseline study examining the impact of a youth-led initiative on reducing rates of sexual assault (Edwards et al, 2021); all data collected in the city sample that is presented in this article occurred before the implementation of the initiative.…”

“…For example, in a nationally representative sample of urban American Indian high school students, researchers documented that 16.4% of American Indian youth reported being physically forced to have sex during the past year (compared to 6.6% of White youth; Rutman et al, 2008). Research suggests that sexual assault is related to a host of deleterious outcomes in American Indian youth, including (but not limited to) depression, suicidal ideation, and binge drinking (Edwards et al, 2021). Thus, the prevention of sexual assault among American Indian girls is of critical public health importance.…”

Using photovoice to understand and amplify youth voices to prevent sexual and relationship violence

“…What might we be missing in how we are framing SRV prevention that may not be currently resonating with them? This may be especially important in communities with a large presence of Native youth for which we know very little about effective SRV prevention (Edwards et al, in press; Edwards et al, under review). PAR methods are those that involve participants as decision‐makers who collaborate with researchers on all parts of a project.…”