Educational Status and its association with Risk and Protective Factors for Aboriginal Youth in Alert Bay, British Columbia - Abstract

Abstract

van der Woerd, K.A. Educational Status and its association with Risk and Protective Factors for Aboriginal Youth in Alert Bay, British Columbia. Thesis in fulfillment of the requirements for an MA in Experimental Psychology. Abstract: This study included the administration of the 127-item Aboriginal Youth Health Survey. The purpose of this study was to determine how school and family connectedness are associated with delinquent and health promoting behaviors, and whether school attendance is associated with delinquency and health status for First Nations youth. In total, 131 Aboriginal youth (55% female, 45% male) from Alert Bay, B.C. participated. It was found that higher levels of school connectedness (not family connectedness) were associated with lower levels of delinquency, but not associated with health and well-being measures. When individual delinquency items were contrasted, participants who dropped out were more likely to be addicted to alcohol and marijuana than participants’ in-school/graduated. Both participants in-school/graduated and youth who dropped out reported similar levels of health and well-being. Of particular interest is the finding that youth who had been pregnant or were parents revealed a similar profile as those youth who dropped out of school. Participants who dropped out reported many reasons for dropping out including pregnancy, problems at home or at school, and employment. In total, 57% of those who dropped out of school reported that they did not talk to anyone about the decision. Of those youth who did talk to someone, most reported that they talked to their parent or a friend. Limitations to this study and possible interventions to keep First Nations youth in school are discussed. This study is founded on the assumptions that it is more advantageous for adolescents to be in school than out of school, that any education is superior to no education, that there are explicit social costs that society must bear when adolescents drop out of high school, and to improve completion or graduation rates, society or community members must find a way to encourage teachers to work with those youth at risk, and encourage the youth themselves.