Year of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Clinical Psychology

Department or School/College

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Gyda Swaney

Commitee Members

Duncan Campbell, George Price

Keywords

resilience, historical loss, American Indian, age

Subject Categories

Multicultural Psychology

Abstract

Historical loss is a primary contributor to the well-being of American Indian people and their communities. Research has shown that these losses have contributed to modern-day physical and mental health disparities. Research has also shown that adverse experiences, such as historical loss, are associated with the development of resilience. Additionally, increased age has been found to be related to increased levels of resilience. An informal survey of members of a Northern Plains tribal community identified grief as a major area of concern. The present study is a secondary analysis of data that was collected from two culturally-anchored grief retreats. Participants used for this study included 37 American Indian adults ranging in age from 18-60 years (M = 38.51 years). This study examined the relationships between the frequency of thoughts related to historical loss, resilience, and age. A multiple regression analyses revealed no statistically significant relationships between the Historical Loss Scale (HLS), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and age. This suggests that for this sample, age is not significantly related to resilience scores as measured by the BRS or the frequency of thoughts about historical losses as measured by the HLS that these American Indian participants experience. Future studies should examine resilience, individual versus group resilience, and how it manifests in American Indians.

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© Copyright 2015 Desiree L. Fox