Why Are So Many Indigenous Peoples Dying and No One Is Paying Attention? Depressive Symptoms and "Loss of Loved Ones" as a Result and Driver of Health Disparities.

Indigenous peoples have not only experienced a devastating rate of historical loss of lives, they are more likely to experience mortality disparities. The purpose of this article is to examine Indigenous women's lived experiences of grief and loss in two Southeastern tribes and the relationship between depressive symptoms and recent loss of a loved one. Our exploratory sequential mixed-methods research was informed by the Indigenous based Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT). We summarized key qualitative themes from ethnographic data from 287 female participants across the two tribes, collected through focus groups, family interviews, and individual interviews. We then quantitatively examined how these themes predicted depressive outcomes among 127 respondents. Specifically, we examined associations between depressive symptoms and components of historical oppression-historical loss, loss of lives, and the presence of PTSD symptoms-along with resilience and transcendence.

The Family Resilience Inventory: A Culturally Grounded Measure of Current and Family-of-Origin Protective Processes in Native American Families.

The purpose of this article is to introduce the Family Resilience Inventory (FRI) and present findings on initial efforts to validate this measure. The FRI is designed to assess family resilience in one's current family and in one's family of origin, enabling the assessment of family protective factors across these generations. The development of the FRI was the result of many years of ethnographic research with Southeastern Native American tribes; yet, we believe that this scale is applicable to families of various backgrounds. Items for the FRI were derived directly from thematic analysis of qualitative data with 436 participants, resulting in two 20-item scales. Due to missing data, eight cases were removed from the 127 participants across two tribes, resulting in an analytic sample size of 119. Conceptually, the FRI is comprised of two factors or scales measuring distinct dimensions of family resilience (i.e., resilience in one's current family and resilience in one's family of origin). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized two-factor structure (X2 (644) = 814.14, p = .03, X2 /df = 1.10, RMSEA = .03, CFI = .97, TLI = .96). Both the subscales and the total FRI scale (α = .92) demonstrated excellent reliability. The results also provided preliminary evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. This measure fills a gap in the absence of community-based, culturally grounded, and empirical measures of family resilience. The examination of family resilience, which may occur across generations, is an exciting new contribution of the FRI.

El propósito de este artículo es presentar el "Inventario de Resiliencia Familiar" (FRI, por sus siglas en inglés) y los resultados actuales sobre los primeros esfuerzos para validar esta medición. El FRI está diseñado para evaluar la resiliencia familiar en la familia actual de una persona y en la familia de origen de una persona, lo cual permite la evaluación de los factores protectores familiares entre estas generaciones. El desarrollo del FRI fue el resultado de muchos años de investigación etnográfica con tribus amerindias del sudeste; sin embargo, creemos que esta escala puede aplicarse a familias de diferentes orígenes. Los puntos que componen el FRI se obtuvieron directamente de análisis temáticos de datos cualitativos con 436 participantes, cuyo resultado fueron dos escalas de 20 puntos. Debidos a datos faltantes, se extrajeron ocho casos de los 127 participantes entre dos tribus, lo cual resultó en un tamaño de la muestra análitica de 119. Conceptualmente, el FRI está compuesto por dos factores o escalas que miden diferentes dimensiones de resiliencia familiar (p. ej.: la resiliencia en la familia actual de una persona y la resiliencia en la familia de origen de una persona). Los resultados del análisis factorial confirmatorio respaldaron la estructura de dos factores planteada como hipótesis (X2 (644) = 814.14, p = .03, X2 /df = 1.10, RMSEA = .03, CFI = .97, TLI = .96). Tanto las subescalas como la escala total del FRI (α = .92) demostraron una excelente fiabilidad. Los resultados también proporcionaron indicios preliminares de validez convergente y discriminante. Esta medición llena un vacío en ausencia de mediciones de resiliencia familiar comunitarias, basadas en la cultura y en la práctica. El análisis de la resiliencia familiar, que puede darse en distintas generaciones, es un nuevo y fascinante aporte del FRI.