A Qualitative Investigation of the Strategies used by a Sample of Native American Older Adults to Cope with Race-Related Stressors
Dublin Core
Title
A Qualitative Investigation of the Strategies used by a Sample of Native American Older Adults to Cope with Race-Related Stressors
Subject
Indigenous peoples
Electronic Resource Item Type Metadata
Publication Date
2011
Publisher
The University of Montana
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
English
Region
United States
Access
Open Access
View Source
Abstract
The present study explored how racism-related stress was characterized by respondents
and investigated the ways in which these respondents coped with this type of stress.
Using content analysis, four broad themes of race-related stress emerged: 1) Institutional,
2) Intergroup, 3) Bicultural, and 4) Intragroup. Race-related coping strategies, which
included the cognitive, emotional and behavioral strategies respondents used to reduce
and/or manage their experiences of racism, were also explored. Eight overarching coping
strategies were described: 1) Taking action, 2) Acceptance, 3) Escaping, 4) Collective
coping, 5) Meaning making, 6) Affective coping, 7) ―Returning to what Indians did
before‖, and 8) Creative coping. This work has important implications given the evidence
that suggests that racism is a unique source of stress that contributes to the reduced
quality of life for racial/ethnic minorities as well as to the race/ethnicity-based disparities
in mental and physical health. As such, this study begins to expand our awareness of the
sources of race-related stress among this population as well as begins to improve our
understanding of the coping strategies that are effective in helping these Native American
individuals cope with racism. In the present analysis, results were compared to the
existing race-related stress and coping literature in an effort to understand the unique and
common experiences of racism across different racial/ethnic minority groups. The
findings indicated that for this sample of Native American older adults the welfare of the
group/tribe and maintaining a sense of belonging to the group were important values that
influenced coping behaviors. These findings suggest that appropriate and effective
clinical and social interventions for this population should take into account the values,
attitudes and customs of a Native American worldview that recognizes the central
importance of belongingness/interconnectedness. However given that this study did not
specifically ask about racism, future studies will need to employ a more direct line of
questioning since it is quite possible that specific questions regarding respondents‘
experiences with racism could lead to different and/or more complete responses.
and investigated the ways in which these respondents coped with this type of stress.
Using content analysis, four broad themes of race-related stress emerged: 1) Institutional,
2) Intergroup, 3) Bicultural, and 4) Intragroup. Race-related coping strategies, which
included the cognitive, emotional and behavioral strategies respondents used to reduce
and/or manage their experiences of racism, were also explored. Eight overarching coping
strategies were described: 1) Taking action, 2) Acceptance, 3) Escaping, 4) Collective
coping, 5) Meaning making, 6) Affective coping, 7) ―Returning to what Indians did
before‖, and 8) Creative coping. This work has important implications given the evidence
that suggests that racism is a unique source of stress that contributes to the reduced
quality of life for racial/ethnic minorities as well as to the race/ethnicity-based disparities
in mental and physical health. As such, this study begins to expand our awareness of the
sources of race-related stress among this population as well as begins to improve our
understanding of the coping strategies that are effective in helping these Native American
individuals cope with racism. In the present analysis, results were compared to the
existing race-related stress and coping literature in an effort to understand the unique and
common experiences of racism across different racial/ethnic minority groups. The
findings indicated that for this sample of Native American older adults the welfare of the
group/tribe and maintaining a sense of belonging to the group were important values that
influenced coping behaviors. These findings suggest that appropriate and effective
clinical and social interventions for this population should take into account the values,
attitudes and customs of a Native American worldview that recognizes the central
importance of belongingness/interconnectedness. However given that this study did not
specifically ask about racism, future studies will need to employ a more direct line of
questioning since it is quite possible that specific questions regarding respondents‘
experiences with racism could lead to different and/or more complete responses.
Cataloger
Kristen Walker
Citation
“A Qualitative Investigation of the Strategies used by a Sample of Native American Older Adults to Cope with Race-Related Stressors,” ICMGLT Digital Library, accessed November 3, 2026, https://library.icmglt.org/items/show/902.