Discriminant analysis was conducted to examine the empirical use of psychosocial variables and stressful life events scales in classifying depressed and non-depressed American Indian adolescents using a standardized criterion measure. Subjects attending a Bureau of Indian Affair boarding school were administered a mental health screening survey and were interviewed within four weeks using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule f or Children-Revised (DISC-R). Three models of discriminant analysis were used to determine the overall and incremental variance contributed by the stressful life events scales and the related psychosocial variables (i.e., gender, perceived social support from family and from friends, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms) to the criterion variable of depression. Results indicated that none of the models contributed significantly to the overall and unique variance in the classification of the groups. It is recommended that psychosocial correlates other than those that had been identified in this study (e.g. substance abuse, suicide behaviors, etc.) need to be examined and considered in future examination of American Indian adolescent depression.

Over the past 30 years, obesity has increased rapidly as an epidemic and major public health concern in the United Stated, particularly among Native American children and adolescents. Native American adolescents have the highest prevalence rates of obesity of all ethnic groups in the United States. Although there has been an increasing effort to develop and evaluate obesity prevention programs for children and adolescents, very little attention has been devoted to understanding culturally effective approaches for ethnic populations. There is a significant gap in the research literature regarding effective obesity intervention and prevention studies for Native American children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a culturally based talking circle approach, KCTC-O, for the prevention of obesity among early adolescent Native American (Keetoowah-Cherokee) and to examine the relationships between Cherokee self-reliance; perceived stress levels; and obesity knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. A 7-week intervention in which a 2-condition quasi-experimental design was implemented to compare the KCTC-O experimental condition with a standard school health education (SE) control condition on three outcome variables (Cherokee self-reliance; perceived stress levels; and obesity knowledge, attitudes, and behavior at pre- and post-intervention. A total sample of 100 participants were recruited for this study, 50 participants per condition. The participants were distributed almost evenly in terms of gender: 55 females compared to 45 males for both groups combined. Participants ranged in ages from 10 to 13, with a mean age of 11.5 years of age, and ranged in grades from 4 through 7, with Grade 6 being the most frequently reported grade in school. The results of this study revealed the effectiveness of the KCTC-O condition was not significantly greater than the SE condition. However, although not statistically significant, the results of this study provided some evidence that a culturally based intervention was slightly more effective for the prevention of obesity than a non-culturally based intervention for Native American early adolescents. This study helps to validate the need for more robust obesity prevention programs from a cultural perspective among Native American early adolescents. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Critical Incident Stress (CIS) in emergency workers and in victims of crises is widely held to be the possible precursor to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if left unattended. Indeed, the symptoms for CIS and PTSD overlap in all category areas. Today, the commonly used treatment for trauma in emergency workers is Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). This system of interventions includes a debriefing session which facilitates people to fully remember the trauma events and their own reactions to it. CISM models were conceived and designed within and from a typically white, western viewpoint. However, one agency in Vancouver, First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS), provides CISM debriefing interventions and training to Native emergency workers and Native victims of crises. The purpose of this study was to document how Native participants perceived the CISM model as FNESS presented it and to understand whether the intervention was culturally meaningful for the First Nations participants in the CISM sessions. This study examined whether the mainstream CISM model, which is currently used by this agency, is culturally meaningful for populations of another culture receiving it. Narrative interviews were conducted with participants to determine their reactions to the session, their feelings regarding information presented, and their ability to make cultural meaning of the experience. Narrative analysis was used to determine themes across individuals. Theoretical implications of this research include addressing the gap in the literature of the subjective experiences of participants in CISM; no studies have used a purely qualitative methodology to study this topic. Also, this study looked at the important issue of the cross-cultural application of a mainstream intervention, particularly for a population with a history of complex traumas. Practical implications include providing information into the perceived effectiveness of the FNESS approach to a CISM framework and providing an opportunity for recipients' opinions to be heard.

Critical Incident Stress (CIS) in emergency workers and in victims of crises is widely held to be the possible precursor to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if left unattended. Indeed, the symptoms for CIS and PTSD overlap in all category areas. Today, the commonly used treatment for trauma in emergency workers is Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). This system of interventions includes a debriefing session which facilitates people to fully remember the trauma events and their own reactions to it. CISM models were conceived and designed within and from a typically white, western viewpoint. However, one agency in Vancouver, First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS), provides CISM debriefing interventions and training to Native emergency workers and Native victims of crises. The purpose of this study was to document how Native participants perceived the CISM model as FNESS presented it and to understand whether the intervention was culturally meaningful for the First Nations participants in the CISM sessions. This study examined whether the mainstream CISM model, which is currently used by this agency, is culturally meaningful for populations of another culture receiving it. Narrative interviews were conducted with participants to determine their reactions to the session, their feelings regarding information presented, and their ability to make cultural meaning of the experience. Narrative analysis was used to determine themes across individuals. Theoretical implications of this research include addressing the gap in the literature of the subjective experiences of participants in CISM; no studies have used a purely qualitative methodology to study this topic. Also, this study looked at the important issue of the cross-cultural application of a mainstream intervention, particularly for a population with a history of complex traumas. Practical implications include providing information into the perceived effectiveness of the FNESS approach to a CISM framework and providing an opportunity for recipients' opinions to be heard. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate