Examining risk and resilience in the built and social neighborhood environment for American Indian/Alaska Native preschool children

• In Event: Exploring Protective Factors for Indigenous Children in the Midst of Economic, Environmental, and Social Stressors

Abstract

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children possess numerous cultural assets, yet historical trauma and poverty present barriers to healthy development, including risks in the neighborhood built environment (e.g., housing conditions, food deserts) and social environment (e.g., presence of crime, substances, community support; Baldwin et al., 2020; Morrell et al., 2020). These risks contribute to low graduation rates and greater substance use and depression (Munoz et al., 2020). Strong executive function (EF; working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) and cultural socialization (e.g., participation in tribal activities, tribal language use) early in life may act as a protective factor- boosting academic achievement and mental health (McClelland et al., 2015). The present study used data from the 2015 AI/AN Head Start Family and Community Experiences Study (FACES; Bernstein et al., 2018) to explore two aims: first, to examine the relation between neighborhood risk and EF; and second, to identify aspects of cultural socialization as predictors of EF.
Participants were 768 AI/AN children (mean age = 4.17 years, SD = .06; 50.1% female). Approximately 38% of mothers reported greater than high school education. EF was assessed using percentage of correct taps on the Pencil-Tapping Task (PTT, Diamond & Taylor, 1996; M = 48.04, SD = 33.05) and standardized scores on the cognitive-social subscale of the Leiter-R (Roid & Miller, 1997; M = 104.04, SD = 14.93). A 13-item neighborhood risk index was created based on caregiver responses to two scales: environmental conditions (M = 2.37, SD = .70; where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) and neighborhood problems (M = 1.8, SD = .62; where 1 = not a problem and 3 = big problem). Caregivers also reported number of six total cultural activities (e.g., “listened to elders tell stories”; M = 2.30, SD = 1.83) and six language activities (e.g., “used tribal language in prayers and songs”; M = 4.29; SD = 2.13) they engaged in with their children in the past month.
Controlling for age, gender, and mother’s education; neighborhood risk was associated with lower EF on the PTT (B = -3.72, SE(B) = 1.85, p = .05), but not the Leiter-R. Items most related to EF were lack of housing and employment, distance from groceries/services, and poor quality roads- all aspects of the built environment. Cultural and language socialization were not related to EF.
Results suggest a lack of resources in the built environment may be more related to AI/AN child EF than risks in the social environment. Lack of significant findings regarding culture and language may be due to measurement issues, lack of variability, or because increased affiliation with AI/AN culture may increase proximity to effects of trauma, poverty, and racism (Herman-Stahl et al., 2003; Markstrom et al., 2011); which adversely influence EF. Results offer valuable information for researchers and tribal communities to help mitigate aspects of neighborhood risk that may negatively impact child health. Future research should further explore cultural socialization and how cultural resilience can promote cognitive development in AI/AN children.

Authors

• Alexis E Merculief, Oregon State University - Corvallis
  Presenting Author

• Shannon Tierney Lipscomb, Oregon State University

• Megan M McClelland, Oregon State University - Corvallis