Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
ARTICLESAcculturation Strategies and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Behavior Problems in Arctic Minority Adolescents
Section snippets
Subjects
The sample consisted of 581 Sami (322 [55.4%] females/259 males [44.6%]) and 291 Kven (136 females [46.7%]/155 males [53.3%]) high school students aged 15–18 years from 21 high schools in the three northernmost counties in Norway. Response rate was 85%. Regarding socioeconomic status (SES), significantly more Kvens belonged to the upper classes than their Sami peers, whereas more Sami belonged to the primary industries (fishing, agriculture, reindeer herding) (p < .001). In the Sami group, 4.6%
RESULTS
We examined the effects of ethnicity, gender, parentage, ethnic language, and SES on the YSR main scales. Ethnicity, ethnic language, parentage, and SES had no effect on any problem scale. An overall main effect of gender occurred for Total and Internalizing Problems, with females reporting the highest problem scores (Table 1).
For each ethnic group and gender, bivariate correlations were run to examine the associations between the three YSR main scales and the predictors: acculturation
DISCUSSION
The hypothesis that marginalization and integration are related to mental health was supported in Sami males, but not in general in the other groups. Our results demonstrated a protective effect of integration while marginalization occurred as a risk factor for Sami males’ mental well-being as did separation for Sami females. As expected, national identity protected against behavior problems but only in Sami males and Kven females, and ethnic identity only in Kven females. The predictors were
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Self-reported internalization symptoms and family factors in indigenous Sami and non-Sami adolescents in North Norway
2011, Journal of AdolescenceCitation Excerpt :Javo, Alapack, Heyerdahl, and Rønning (2003) found that indigenous Sami parents emphasized teaching their children traditional Sami skills and Sami language in order to promote Sami identity and positive orientation to the ethnic group. Kvernmo et al. have focused on the relationship between ethnic identity and behavioural problems in youth showing the protective influence of a strong ethnic identity on substance use (Spein, Sexton, & Kvernmo, 2007) but not on behavioural and emotional problems (Kvernmo & Heyerdahl, 1998, 2003). Another study found that factors diverging from traditional cultural norms (single-parent home, alcohol intoxication and paternal overprotection) were associated with suicide attempts in Sami adolescents (Silviken & Kvernmo, 2007).
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This research was funded by the National Program of Health and Inequality and the Program for Youth Research (UNGforsk).