Lauren

Title:
Social Support as an Avenue for Strengths-Based Alaska Native Suicide Prevention: An Examination of Youth Support Profiles in Alaska Native Villages

Abstract:
Introduction: Rural Alaska Native (AN) young people suffer disproportionately from suicide compared to others in the United States, and many prevention efforts rely on mental health services rather than building on current relationships and available resources. Research shows that strengthening social, cultural, and emotional support can reduce suicide risk. Here, we examine young people’s existing supportive relationships with the goal of identifying promising areas to reinforce and extend these protective connections. Methods: We use cross-sectional baseline survey data from 165 AN young people, collected as part of an efficacy study focused on Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES), to examine pre-intervention patterns of support. We employ chi-square tests, t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs to describe the types (i.e., category), quantities (i.e., distribution and average number), sources (i.e., from whom), and frequencies (i.e., how often) of received social, cultural, and emotional support, and we examine how these ‘support profiles’ differ by age and sex. Results: For AN young people, we find that: 1) most reported receiving nearly all survey-listed supports, 2) compared to females, males reported receiving fewer supports on average, 3) family was selected most, and 4) family (e.g., parents, siblings, and grandparents) provided support most regularly. Conclusion: Our results suggest fruitful avenues for community-based interventions for suicide prevention with AN young people. We discuss these findings in relation to: 1) strengths-based approaches which build on existing family and community supports, and 2) how the gendered nature of suicide prevention and assessment relates to future strategies.

Jamie

Title:
Standing with our sisters: Differential explanations for sexual violence towards Native and White women

Abstract:
While public discourse in mainstream news and national media has brought to light the prevalence of sexual violence and harassment, prompting increased activism and prevention efforts, Native women and their experiences have largely been excluded from this mainstream national reckoning. This is true despite the fact that Native American women experience the highest rates of sexual violence in the U.S with more than 1 in 3 Native women having been raped in their lifetime (Rosay, 2016). One reason for this exclusion may be how individuals make meaning of the experiences of sexual violence for Native relative to White women. In a mixed-method study of American adults (N=730), we found that although there were important similarities in how people made meaning of sexual violence affecting Native and White women, there were substantial and systematic differences. In terms of similarities, we found that people were equally likely to victim-blame Native and White women. Nonetheless, when making meaning of Native women’s experiences participants were: 1) more likely to use negative racial stereotypes (e.g., Natives are alcoholics); 2) more likely to blame the community (e.g., Reservations are dangerous); and 3) less likely to blame men/perpetrators (e.g., Men see women as vulnerable) compared to when making meaning of White women’s experiences. Together, these results reveal the pervasiveness of victim blaming, but also demonstrate that understandings of sexual violence are racialized. The implications of these findings on differences in support for victims and action to end sexual violence will be discussed.