Applying an Indigenous Connectedness Framework to Examine Environmental Risk and Protective Factors for Urban...

Indigenous frameworks suggest environmental risk and protective factors for American Indian (AI) children's development can be understood in terms of connecting and disconnecting forces in five domains: spirituality, family, intergenerational ties, community, and environment/land. This study examined the prevalence of these forces among 156 urban AI parents and their children (mean age = 10.69, SD = 1.92) and investigated associations with child executive function (EF). Parents reported on three disconnecting forces (parent stressful life events, discrimination, and neighborhood risks) and two connecting forces (knowledge of tribal history and engagement with cultural beliefs and traditional practices). Parents rated children's EF using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), and a subsample of children (n = 81) provided self-report EF data. Controlling for income and child age, connecting forces (parent engagement with cultural beliefs and traditional practices and knowledge of tribal history) were associated with higher parent-reported and child self-reported EF, while disconnecting forces (discrimination and neighborhood risk) were related to lower child EF. Findings highlight the protective role of cultural connectedness for urban AI children's cognitive development, and the importance of centering Indigenous theory in risk and resilience research with AI families.