ABSTRACT
A critical component of resilience for many Native American communities is their ability to sustain their culture and identity through deep connections with homelands, Native language, ceremonial practices, and tribal communities. Native American youth living off of tribal lands, often in urban regions, are faced with unique pressure to negotiate and adapt their culture and values while navigating nonnative settings. After-school programming centering Native culture has shown promise in strengthening Native youth resilience, yet few empirically based prevention programs exist, especially programming using developmentally appropriately art programming. To address the lack of empirical evidence for the use of culturally grounded after-school art programming for Native American youth living in urban areas, the current study will extend an earlier pilot study (Pepic et al., 2022) by using a mixed-methods design across three time points to evaluate the impact of a virtual culturally oriented art therapy curriculum on youth resilience, perceived stress, connection to culture, and mood while considering coronavirus pandemic related fears and experiences. No statistically significant results were found across time points, although qualitative results indicated individual, cultural, and ecological protective factors for Native resilience. The results of this study provide examples of how culturally centered Native after school programming can provide protective factors for Native American youth living in urban settings, but also highlight stories of resilience for youth navigating challenging pandemic times. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
A critical component of resilience for many Native American communities is their ability to sustain their culture and identity through deep connections with homelands, Native language, ceremonial practices, and tribal communities. Native American youth living off of tribal lands, often in urban regions, are faced with unique pressure to negotiate and adapt their culture and values while navigating nonnative settings. After-school programming centering Native culture has shown promise in strengthening Native youth resilience, yet few empirically based prevention programs exist, especially programming using developmentally appropriately art programming. To address the lack of empirical evidence for the use of culturally grounded after-school art programming for Native American youth living in urban areas, the current study will extend an earlier pilot study (Pepic et al., 2022) by using a mixed-methods design across three time points to evaluate the impact of a virtual culturally oriented art therapy curriculum on youth resilience, perceived stress, connection to culture, and mood while considering coronavirus pandemic related fears and experiences. No statistically significant results were found across time points, although qualitative results indicated individual, cultural, and ecological protective factors for Native resilience. The results of this study provide examples of how culturally centered Native after school programming can provide protective factors for Native American youth living in urban settings, but also highlight stories of resilience for youth navigating challenging pandemic times. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)