IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v88y2013icp1-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Illicit and prescription drug problems among urban Aboriginal adults in Canada: The role of traditional culture in protection and resilience

Author

Listed:
  • Currie, Cheryl L.
  • Wild, T. Cameron
  • Schopflocher, Donald P.
  • Laing, Lory
  • Veugelers, Paul

Abstract

Illicit and prescription drug use disorders are two to four times more prevalent among Aboriginal peoples in North America than the general population. Research suggests Aboriginal cultural participation may be protective against substance use problems in rural and remote Aboriginal communities. As Aboriginal peoples continue to urbanize rapidly around the globe, the role traditional Aboriginal beliefs and practices may play in reducing or even preventing substance use problems in cities is becoming increasingly relevant, and is the focus of the present study. Mainstream acculturation was also examined. Data were collected via in-person surveys with a community-based sample of Aboriginal adults living in a mid-sized city in western Canada (N = 381) in 2010. Associations were analysed using two sets of bootstrapped linear regression models adjusted for confounders with continuous illicit and prescription drug problem scores as outcomes. Psychological mechanisms that may explain why traditional culture is protective for Aboriginal peoples were examined using the cross-products of coefficients mediation method. The extent to which culture served as a resilience factor was examined via interaction testing. Results indicate Aboriginal enculturation was a protective factor associated with reduced 12-month illicit drug problems and 12-month prescription drug problems among Aboriginal adults in an urban setting. Increased self-esteem partially explained why cultural participation was protective. Cultural participation also promoted resilience by reducing the effects of high school incompletion on drug problems. In contrast, mainstream acculturation was not associated with illicit drug problems and served as a risk factor for prescription drug problems in this urban sample. Findings encourage the growth of programs and services that support Aboriginal peoples who strive to maintain their cultural traditions within cities, and further studies that examine how Aboriginal cultural practices and beliefs may promote and protect Aboriginal health in an urban environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Currie, Cheryl L. & Wild, T. Cameron & Schopflocher, Donald P. & Laing, Lory & Veugelers, Paul, 2013. "Illicit and prescription drug problems among urban Aboriginal adults in Canada: The role of traditional culture in protection and resilience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1-9.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:88:y:2013:i:c:p:1-9
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.03.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613002013
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.03.032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krieger, Nancy & Smith, Kevin & Naishadham, Deepa & Hartman, Cathy & Barbeau, Elizabeth M., 2005. "Experiences of discrimination: Validity and reliability of a self-report measure for population health research on racism and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 1576-1596, October.
    2. Paul F. M. Krabbe & Eddy M. M. Adang & Peep F. M. Stalmeier & Bruce R. Schackman & John Brazier & Milton C. Weinstein, 2003. "Letter to the Editor," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 23(6), pages 542-543, November.
    3. Brady, Maggie, 1995. "Culture in treatment, culture as treatment. A critical appraisal of developments in addictions programs for indigenous North Americans and Australians," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 41(11), pages 1487-1498, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Currie, Cheryl L. & Copeland, Jennifer L. & Metz, Gerlinde A., 2019. "Childhood racial discrimination and adult allostatic load: The role of Indigenous cultural continuity in allostatic resiliency," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    2. Nelson, Sarah E. & Wilson, Kathi, 2017. "The mental health of Indigenous peoples in Canada: A critical review of research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 93-112.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabian T C Schmidt & Clemens M Lechner & Daniel Danner, 2020. "New wine in an old bottle? A facet-level perspective on the added value of Grit over BFI–2 Conscientiousness," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Alfonso Urzúa & Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar & Diego Henríquez & David R. Williams, 2021. "Discrimination and Health: The Mediating Effect of Acculturative Stress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Johnston, David W. & Lordan, Grace, 2012. "Discrimination makes me sick! An examination of the discrimination–health relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 99-111.
    4. Hamid Beladi & Nicholas S. P. Tay & Reza Oladi, 2011. "On Competition for Listings," Working Papers 0003, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    5. Correa-Velez, Ignacio & Gifford, Sandra M. & Barnett, Adrian G., 2010. "Longing to belong: Social inclusion and wellbeing among youth with refugee backgrounds in the first three years in Melbourne, Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1399-1408, October.
    6. Masoumeh Shohani & Firoz Balavandi & Reza Valizadeh & Hamed Tavan, 2017. "Threats and Opportunities of the Health Reform Plan from the Nurses’ Perspective in Ilam," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(5), pages 1-85, May.
    7. Lynn N. Ibekwe & Maria Eugenia Fernández-Esquer & Sandi L. Pruitt & Nalini Ranjit & Maria E. Fernández, 2021. "Racism and Cancer Screening among Low-Income, African American Women: A Multilevel, Longitudinal Analysis of 2-1-1 Texas Callers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Deepak Sartaj & Vijay Krishnan & Ravindra Rao & Atul Ambekar & Neeraj Dhingra & Pratap Sharan, 2021. "Mental illnesses and related vulnerabilities in the Hijra community: A cross-sectional study from India," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(3), pages 290-297, May.
    9. World Bank, 2007. "Making the Most of Scarcity : Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6845.
    10. Shippee, Tetyana Pylypiv & Schafer, Markus H. & Ferraro, Kenneth F., 2012. "Beyond the barriers: Racial discrimination and use of complementary and alternative medicine among Black Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1155-1162.
    11. Christoph Augner & Gerhard Hacker, 2012. "Associations between problematic mobile phone use and psychological parameters in young adults," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(2), pages 437-441, April.
    12. Marcelle M. Dougan & Marian Tzuang & Bora Nam & Oanh L. Meyer & Janice Y. Tsoh & Van M. Ta Park, 2024. "Discrimination Experiences among Asian American and Pacific Islander Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Mental Health Outcomes: Updated Findings from the COMPASS Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-16, June.
    13. Jean Hillier, 2009. "Assemblages of Justice: The ‘Ghost Ships’ of Graythorp," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 640-661, September.
    14. Wulfhorst, J. D. & Rimbey, Neil R. & Darden, Tim D., 2003. "Social And Community Impacts Of Public Land Grazing Policy Alternatives In The Bruneau Resource Area Of Owyhee County, Idaho," A.E. Extension Series 304818, University of Idaho, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
    15. Nancy Krieger & Pamela D Waterman & Anna Kosheleva & Jarvis T Chen & Dana R Carney & Kevin W Smith & Gary G Bennett & David R Williams & Elmer Freeman & Beverley Russell & Gisele Thornhill & Kristin M, 2011. "Exposing Racial Discrimination: Implicit & Explicit Measures–The My Body, My Story Study of 1005 US-Born Black & White Community Health Center Members," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-24, November.
    16. Bradby, Hannah, 2012. "Race, ethnicity and health: The costs and benefits of conceptualising racism and ethnicity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 955-958.
    17. Kara Chan & Sherrill Evans & Marcus Chiu & Peter Huxley & Yu-Leung Ng, 2015. "Relationship Between Health, Experience of Discrimination, and Social Inclusion Among Mental Health Service Users in Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 127-139, October.
    18. Limnios, N., 2006. "Estimation of the stationary distribution of semi-Markov processes with Borel state space," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(14), pages 1536-1542, August.
    19. Gee, Gilbert C. & Spencer, Michael & Chen, Juan & Yip, Tiffany & Takeuchi, David T., 2007. "The association between self-reported racial discrimination and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders among Asian Americans nationwide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 1984-1996, May.
    20. Ana Isabel Maldonado & Carol B. Cunradi & Anna María Nápoles, 2020. "Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration in Latino Men: The Mediating Effects of Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:88:y:2013:i:c:p:1-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.