Indigenous Youth Resilience: Contextual & Cultural Considerations By: Elaine Toombs on behalf of Dr. Christopher Mushquash

1. INDIGENOUS YOUTH RESILIENCE:
CONTEXTUAL & CULTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS
Elaine Toombs, Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada)
On behalf of
Dr. Christopher Mushquash, Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, Ontario,
Canada)
CIHR Team Grant:
Advancing Boys’ and Men’s
Health
(ResearchGate Link Here)
#CIHRTeamSV

2. INDIGENOUS YOUTH HAVE UNIQUE
NEEDS
• Indigenous youth face unique challenges
when compared to non-Indigenous youth
related to:
• Mental health outcomes
• Family disruption
• Educational attainment
• Other health disparities: social determinants of
health
• Research conceptualizations need to align
with community values to create useful

3. SS
IMP
AS
HOP
COP
CONF
ENH
F
Q
PROBS
.102
.221
.174
.217
.116
.240
.191
.350
.202
.246
.162
.172
.066
.213
.356
χ2 (20) = 57.71, p =
.000; NFI = .95; IFI
= .97; CFI = .97;
RMSEA = .06;
significant paths –
solid lines
Personality Risk, Drinking Motives,
Drinking Levels, and Drinking
Problems
Mushquash, C. J., Stewart, S. H., Comeau, M. N., & McGrath, P. J. (2008). The
structure of drinking motives in First Nations adolescents in Nova
Scotia. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research
(Online), 15(1), 33.

4. RECENT MARIJUANA USE
(% LAST 30 DAYS)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Experimental Control
pre-Tx
post-Tx
*p < .05
Mushquash, C. J., Comeau, N., & Stewart, S. H. (2007). An alcohol abuse early
intervention approach with Mi’kmaq adolescents. First Peoples Child & Family
Review, 3(2), 17-26.

5. Resilience In
Canadian
Indigenous Youth: A
Scoping Review
Toombs, E., Kowatch, K. R., & Mushquash, C. J. (2016). Resilience in
Canadian Indigenous Youth: A scoping review. International Journal of Child
and Adolescent Resilience, 4(1), 4-32.
OPEN ACCESS LINK HERE

6. RELEVANT FINDINGS
• 1. Definitions of Resilience
• Included holistic perspective and wellbeing
• 2. Identified Outcomes Related to Resilience
• Studies tended targeted substance use and mental health
• 3. Factors That Promoted Resilience
• Community and cultural factors were prioritized in many
studies
Toombs, E., Kowatch, K. R., & Mushquash, C. J. (2016). Resilience in
Canadian Indigenous Youth: A scoping review. International Journal of Child
and Adolescent Resilience, 4(1), 4-32.
OPEN ACCESS LINK HERE

7. IMPLICATIONS OF FINDINGS
• Consideration of contextual and cultural factors
• Dynamic process
• Models may require re-conceptualization over time
• Next steps:
• Using Indigenous models of knowledge
• Using approaches that can inform evidence-based
treatment
Mushquash, C. J., Comeau, N., & Stewart, S. H. (2007). An alcohol abuse early intervention approach with Mi’kmaq adolescents. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3(2), 17-26.
Mushquash, C. J., Comeau, M. N., McLeod, B. D., & Stewart, S. H. (2010). A four-stage method for developing early interventions for alcohol among Aboriginal adolescents. International
Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8(2), 296-309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-009-9240-2
Mushquash, C. Jl, Goldstein, A., & Wekerle, C. (2016). Caregiving & Resilience: Supporting youth in adversity, in transition, and in community. Canadian Association of Pediatric Health
Care Centre Knowledge Exchange Network Webinar. Link here.
Rowan, M., Poole, N., Shea, B., Gone, J. P., Mykota, D., Farag, M., ... & Dell, C. (2014). Cultural interventions to treat addictions in Indigenous populations: findings from a scoping study.
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 9(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-9-34
Stewart, S. (2017). Personality and Risk for Substance Abuse: Background, Content, and Evidence-Base for the Preventure Program for Adolescent Substance Abuse
Prevention. Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Care Centre Knowledge Exchange Network Webinar. Link here.
Zahradnik, M., Stevens, D., Stewart, S., Comeau, N., Wekerle, C., & Mushquash, C. (2007). Building a collaborative understanding of pathways to adolescent alcohol misuse in a Mi’kmaq
community: A process paper. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3(2), 27-36.