1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«In order to shed light on the impacts of various stressful life events and resilience factors during adolescence and across different cultural backgrounds, this study explored a variety of protective and vulnerability factors associated with psychological distress among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth.» (p. 4)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«First, we hypothesized that gender, age and ethnicity would be significant predictors of psychological distress. [W]e hypothesized that individual, relational/familial and community resilience factors would be predictors of significantly fewer psychological symptoms. Finally, because no comparative study has explored the relative contribution of various stressful life events to psychological distress among Aboriginal youth, no hypothesis was formulated concerning the predictive values of the various types of events.» (p. 6-7)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The participants were 207 adolescents (mean age = 15.8 years, 55% female, 45% Aboriginal) recruited from two secondary schools located in Innu communities of Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean and Côte Nord (Canada).» (p. 4)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Six multiple linear regressions were conducted to predict six dimensions of psychological distress. Sexual abuse, family violence and other stressful life events were all associated with higher levels of psychological symptoms. Individual resilience factors were associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, dissociation and post-traumatic stress (PTS), whereas relational/familial resilience factors were associated with lower levels of anger and sexual concerns. The relationship with contextual resilience was not significant. […] Overall, these results indicate that stressful life events such as sexual abuse and family violence may have deleterious effects on the mental health of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adolescents. However, some individual and relational factors may have positive effects on their mental health.» (p. 4)