Resilience of American Indian adolescents of the Northern Plains.

Protective and compensatory factors, gender, and Northern Plains traditionalism were examined as they relate to resilience (behavioral competence and/or absence of a psychiatric diagnosis) for high-risk American Indian adolescents. Of 109 adolescents (ages 13-18), this study considered the 61 participants (34 women, 27 men) for whom data was available from adolescents, a parental caregiver, and a teacher. Findings were consistent with two models of protection from the effects of stress. A protective function was found for paternal relationship quality which moderated life events stress (during the past one and two months) to predict behavioral competence. Support for the compensatory (main effects) model was as follows: intellectual functioning, maternal relationship quality, peer relations, multiple caregivers, and humor were associated with behavioral competence; paternal relationship quality, peer relations, multiple caregivers, and humor were associated with absence of a psychiatric diagnosis; and peer relations, intellectual functioning, and paternal relationship quality were associated with resilience. Adolescent women had higher mean scores for maternal relationship quality. Of participants with a psychiatric diagnosis, only women had internalizing disorders only; men were comorbid for internalizing and externalizing disorders. Women with internalizing disorders only had higher behavioral competence scores than peers with externalizing disorders only. Gender interacted with life events stress during the past one and two months, with highly stressed adolescent women scoring lower on behavioral competence than highly stressed adolescent men. Competent and resilient adolescents did not differ from their peers on traditionalism. A moderate level of traditionalism was associated with behavioral competence in the presence of life events stress during the past one month. However, among highly stressed adolescents, highly traditional adolescents were more likely to receive a diagnosis, and scored lower on behavioral competence than less traditional peers. The findings on traditionalism were discussed relative to life span development of protective functioning of traditionalism, and in terms of potential for both protection and vulnerability associated with high levels of traditionalism across differing domains or cultural contexts.PhDClinical psychologyDevelopmental psychologyEducationEducational psychologyEthnic studiesPsychologySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130351/2/9722082.pd