Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Culture is embedded in Indigenous models of wellness. Canadian Indigenous communities conceptualize mental wellness as an individuals' sense of purpose in their daily life, hope for their future and their family's future, a sense of belonging, and meaning as a part of history or creation (Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, 2015). In line with this, contemporary scholars have identified cultural involvement as a resilience factor that is tied to positive outcomes in school performance and decreased mental health symptoms for Indigenous youth (Toombs, Kowatch, & Mushquash, 2016). This resilience is derived from such things as developing a positive cultural identity, engaging in cultural or land-based activities, and fostering interconnectedness within the community as well as with the environment (Toombs et al., 2016). The current study will investigate if culture acts as a moderating factor between mental health needs and substance use in a community based sample of First Nation youth. Drinking to cope in Canadian Indigenous youth has been directly linked to feelings of hopelessness, such that Indigenous youth are more likely to develop depressive symptoms and to drink to numb these feelings, as well as to drink in order to block pessimistic outlooks (Stewart et al., 2011). Engaging in cultural activities may provide Indigenous youth with a greater sense of meaning and belonging that could mitigate negative emotions such as hopelessness. Indeed, involvement in cultural activities has bolstered treatment outcomes for substance use programs in Indigenous communities (Rowan et al., 2014). Implications for intervention and treatment will be discussed.