Experiences and Correlates of Violence Among American Indian and Alaska Native Youth: A Brief Report

The purpose of this paper is to document the scope and correlates of past 6-month victimization among American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) youth. Types of victimization under investigation included sexual assault, dating violence, bullying, sharing of nude photos, sexual harassment, homophobic teasing, and racism. Participants were 400 AI and AN youth in grades 7–10 who completed a survey in school. Results documented concerning rates of all forms of victimization among AI and AN youth during the past 6 months. Although most forms of victimization were related, bullying (at school and electronically), racism, and sexual harassment occurred more often than sexual assault and dating violence. Older youth, girls, and sexual minorities were more likely to report some forms of violence than younger youth, boys, and heterosexual youth respectively. Compared to nonvictims, victim status was consistently related to depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and alcohol use and was less consistently correlated with feelings of school mattering. Evidence-based, culturally grounded prevention and response efforts are needed for AI and AN youth, as well as broader initiatives that seek to reduce health disparities among AI and AN youth.

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Effectiveness of a Sexual Assault Self-defense Program for American Indian Girls

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260521997942 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052199794

Author(s):

Katie M. Edwards ◽

Laura Siller ◽

Lorey A. Wheeler ◽

Leon Leader Charge ◽

Damon P. Leader Charge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Native American ◽

High Schools ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Sexual Harassment ◽

American Indian ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Dating Violence ◽

The United States ◽

Self Defense ◽

Physical Dating Violence

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 6-session (12-hour) empowerment self-defense classroom delivered curriculum (i.e., IMpower) among American Indian girls. Girls ( N = 74) in one middle school and two high schools on an Indian Reservation in the Great Plains region of the United States received the intervention and completed a pre-test and a post-test six months following the final program session. The surveys administered assessed hypothesized intermediary (i.e., efficacy to resist a sexual assault, self-defense knowledge), primary (i.e., sexual violence victimization), and secondary (i.e., physical dating violence, sexual harassment) outcomes. Native American girls ( N = 181) in five middle schools and three high schools in a nearby city where there was no sexual assault prevention occurring completed surveys assessing sexual violence, physical dating violence, and sexual harassment victimization approximately six months apart, thus serving as a comparison to girls in the treatment condition on primary and secondary outcomes. Girls exposed to the IMpower program reported significant increases over time in efficacy to resist a sexual assault and knowledge of effective resistance strategies. Furthermore, propensity score analyses suggested that girls who received the IMpower program reported significantly fewer types of sexual assault and sexual harassment at follow-up compared to girls in the control condition. However, no effect was found for physical dating violence. These data suggest that empowerment self-defense is a promising approach in preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment among American Indian girls.

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Associations of Relationship Experiences, Dating Violence, Sexual Harassment, and Assault With Alcohol Use Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/08862605211001469 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052110014

Author(s):

W. J. Kiekens ◽

L. Baams ◽

J. N. Fish ◽

R. J. Watson

Keyword(s):

Sexual Assault ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Sexual Harassment ◽

Dating Violence ◽

Heavy Episodic Drinking ◽

Gender Minority ◽

Minority Adolescents ◽

Relationship Experiences ◽

Sexual And Gender Minority ◽

And Gender

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents report higher rates of dating violence victimization compared with their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Research on dating violence often neglects diversity in sexual and gender identities and is limited to experiences in relationships. Further, given that dating violence and alcohol use are comorbid, research on experiences of dating violence could provide insights into alcohol use disparities among SGM adolescents. We aimed to map patterns of relationship experiences, sexual and physical dating violence, and sexual and physical assault and explored differences in these experiences among SGM adolescents. Further, we examined how these patterns explained alcohol use. We used a U.S. non-probability national web-based survey administered to 13–17-year-old SGM adolescents ( N = 12,534). Using latent class analyses, four patterns were identified: low relationship experience, dating violence and harassment and assault (72.0%), intermediate dating experiences, sexual harassment, and assault and low levels of dating violence (13.1%), high dating experiences, dating violence, and sexual assault (8.6%), and high dating experiences, dating violence, and sexual harassment and assault (6.3%). Compared to lesbian and gay adolescents, bisexual adolescents reported more experiences with dating, dating violence, and sexual assault, whereas heterosexual adolescents reported fewer experiences with dating, dating violence, and sexual harassment and assault. Compared to cisgender boys, cisgender girls, transgender boys, and non-binary/assigned male at birth adolescents were more likely to experience dating violence inside and outside of relationship contexts. Experiences of dating, dating violence, and sexual harassment and assault were associated with both drinking frequency and heavy episodic drinking. Together, the findings emphasize the relevance of relationship experiences when studying dating violence and how dating violence and sexual harassment and assault might explain disparities in alcohol use.

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Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Sexual Harassment Victimization Among Girls on an Indian Reservation: An Examination of Rates and Risk and Protective Factors

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/10778012211012091 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107780122110120

Author(s):

Katie M. Edwards ◽

Laura Siller ◽

Damon Leader Charge ◽

Simone Bordeaux ◽

Leon Leader Charge

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Native American ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Sexual Harassment ◽

Dating Violence ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Indian Reservation ◽

Middle School Girls ◽

High School Girls ◽

School Girls

We documented the scope and correlates of past 6-month victimization among middle and high school girls on an Indian Reservation. Participants were 102 Native American girls in Grades 6-12. Rates of all forms of past 6-month victimization were higher for high school girls compared with middle school girls. In regression analyses, binge drinking related to higher rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Furthermore, connection to culture related to lower rates of sexual harassment, and efficacy to resist a sexual assault was related to lower rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

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Strengths-Based Assessment for Suicide Prevention: Reasons for Life as a Protective Factor From Yup’ik Alaska Native Youth Suicide

Assessment ◽

10.1177/1073191119875789 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 107319111987578 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

James Allen ◽

Stacy M. Rasmus ◽

Carlotta Ching Ting Fok ◽

Billy Charles ◽

Joseph Trimble ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protective Factors ◽

American Indian ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Cause Of Death ◽

Alaska Native ◽

Suicide Risk ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Native Youth

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native youth, and within the Alaska Native youth subpopulation, the leading cause of death. In response to this public health crisis, American Indian and Alaska Native communities have created strategies to protect their young people by building resilience using localized Indigenous well-being frameworks and cultural strengths. These approaches to suicide prevention emphasize promotion of protective factors over risk reduction. A measure of culturally based protective factors from suicide risk has potential to assess outcomes from these strengths-based, culturally grounded suicide prevention efforts, and can potentially address several substantive concerns regarding direct assessment of suicide risk. We report on the Reasons for Life (RFL) scale, a measure of protective factors from suicide, testing psychometric properties including internal structure with 302 rural Alaska Native Yup’ik youth. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed the RFL is best described through three distinct first-order factors organized under one higher second-order factor. Item response theory analyses identified 11 satisfactorily functioning items. The RFL correlates with other measures of more general protective factors. Implications of these findings are described, including generalizability to other American Indian and Alaska Native, other Indigenous, and other culturally distinct suicide disparities groups.

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