Anxiety, Stress, and Health in Northern Plains Native Americans

In the present study, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988), Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory (Peterson & Reiss, 1992), the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale (Holmes & Rahe, 1967), Northern Plains Bicultural Inventory (Allen & French, 1994), and a health questionnaire were administered to investigate the relationship between anxiety, stressful events, health, and cultural participation among 147 Native American adults from a Midwestern reservation community. The results of these self-report measures indicated that, as has been found in the majority culture, stressful life events predicted physical health problems and self-reported anxiety. The hypothesis that participation in and identification with tribal culture would be associated with fewer life stressors, better health, and lower anxiety was not supported. Surprisingly, cultural identification did not buffer the relationship between stressful life events and anxiety. Implications for understanding anxiety and stress among Native Americans are discussed