Strong Souls: Development and Validation of a Culturally Appropriate Tool for Assessment of Social and Emotional Well-Being in Indigenous Youth

Thomas, Alicia R.; Cairney, Sheree; Gunthorpe, Wendy; Paradies, Yin; Sayers, Susan

doi:10.3109/00048670903393589

Cited by 94 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…As well, we found TSS (DET) routinely collected information about four of the domains outlined in the program logic model (attendance and retention in secondary schooling, enhanced learning, post-school aspiration, and ability to deal with crises). We had assumed that survey instruments developed by and/or for Indigenous Australians (Schlesinger et al, 2007;Thomas et al, 2010;Haswell et al, 2013), would be the most relevant, and prioritized these instruments in our early drafts and testing with TSS staff and students. Only one instrument, Strong Souls, was developed specifically to assess Indigenous Australian adolescents' well-being (Thomas et al, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We had assumed that survey instruments developed by and/or for Indigenous Australians (Schlesinger et al, 2007;Thomas et al, 2010;Haswell et al, 2013), would be the most relevant, and prioritized these instruments in our early drafts and testing with TSS staff and students. Only one instrument, Strong Souls, was developed specifically to assess Indigenous Australian adolescents' well-being (Thomas et al, 2010). A further 13 instruments had been tested or implemented with Indigenous Australians and nine had been developed specifically for adolescents.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Development of a Survey Instrument to Assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Resilience and Risk for Self-Harm

et al. 2017

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Background: Australian policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander well-being outline the importance of local community-based interventions; for adolescents, schoolbased programs have been identified as beneficial. However, there is a lack of localized data to determine levels of resilience and risk and thus whether programs are effective. This paper describes the challenges and opportunities in collaboratively designing and piloting a localized survey instrument to measure Indigenous students' resilience and upstream risk factors for self-harm and the resultant instrument.Methods: A participatory action research approach was used to engage education staff, health-care providers, students, and researchers to design and pilot the survey instrument. A six-phased process facilitated survey development: (1) defining the logic and exploring the evidence; (2) understanding and tailoring for context; (3) testing for feasibility and relevance; (4) testing for appropriateness and comprehension; (5) facilitating survey administration; and (6) refining the instrument. Processes in each phase were recorded and transcribed with thematic analysis used to identify key challenges and opportunities arising during development.results: Four key challenges and opportunities were identified: (1) the relevance of international survey instruments for Indigenous Australian students; (2) accounting for distinct environments; (3) the balance between assessing risk and protective factors; and (4) tailoring for literacy levels and school engagement. The final Student Survey instrument comprised 4 demographic and 56 resilience, risk, service use, and satisfaction questions. The T4S will be administered routinely on annual student intake. Discussion and conclusion: The six-phased participatory processes resulted in a tailored instrument that could identify the critical resilience and upstream risk factors facing a cohort of Indigenous students who attend boarding schools for secondary education. Challenges were resolved collaboratively and the pilot results were directly translated to education practice and its integration with health services. Our results suggest that both the phased process of developing the T4S and the instrument itself can be adapted for other Indigenous adolescent well-being and/or self-harm prevention programs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of a Survey Instrument to Assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Resilience and Risk for Self-Harm

et al. 2017

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“…Client surveys will be used to determine cannabis use patterns and mental health status incorporating the following questionnaires: the Adolescent Cannabis Problems Questionnaire (CPQ-a),35 Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9),36 Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7)37 and Strong Souls 38…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A service-level action research intervention to improve identification and treatment of cannabis and related mental health issues in young Indigenous Australians: a study protocol

et al. 2014

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IntroductionRegular cannabis use is associated with negative mental health impacts including psychosis, depression and anxiety. Rates of cannabis use have increased in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northern Australia within the last two decades, presenting a significant increased risk to young people's mental health in these regions. Improved screening, early detection and treatment for cannabis-related mental health issues are urgently required. This paper describes a service-level action research intervention and evaluation protocol for use in the few services where it is possible to engage young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.Methods/DesignThe protocol is being developed in two services where youth mental health is core business: a primary healthcare centre and a youth service in the Cairns and hinterland region, far north Queensland. The protocol calls first for baseline data to be collected using staff and client surveys; network mapping; and analysis of screening, treatment and referral rates. The protocol's intervention phase is driven by service needs identified from baseline data. Intervention strategies focus on implementing/enhancing cannabis screening instruments and processes in line with current best practice; enhancing networks with external drug and mental health services; developing culturally acceptable training and resources; developing activities aiming to reduce cannabis use in young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients using the services. The protocol requires implementation of the multilevel intervention within each service for 1 year, with follow-up data then collected and compared to baseline. Process evaluation identifies the more effective intervention strategies and documents the challenges to be overcome for full implementation.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was provided by The James Cook University, Human Research Ethics Committee. Ethics Approval Number H5322. Peer-reviewed publications will also be used to disseminate the finding. Results will also be discussed with stakeholder organisations.

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“…The Aboriginal Birth Cohort (ABC) study in the Northern Territory (NT) developed a 25 item measure of SEWB called the ‘Strong Souls’ [26]. A factor analysis of this measure produced a four-factor model that identified the constructs of anxiety, resilience, depression and suicide risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in exposure to ‘life stressors’ in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, 2002 to 2008

Stevens

Paradies

2014

BMC Public Health

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BackgroundThe Negative Life Events Scale (NLES) has been included in nationally representative surveys of the Indigenous and Australian population since 2002 as a measure of exposure to a range of ‘life stressors’. There has been limited reporting or analysis of estimates of the NLES from these surveys. This paper reports changes in exposure to stressors from 2002 to 2008 for the Indigenous population, and examines inter-relationships between eleven NLES items. Data for the 2006 Australian population is also included for comparative purposes.MethodsData from the 2002 and 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Surveys (NATSISS) and the 2006 General Social Survey (GSS) were accessed from the Australia Bureau of Statistics in order to determine significant changes in exposure to stressors for the 2002 and 2008 Indigenous population by remoteness and to compare this with the 2006 Australian population. Factor analysis was used to assess the inter-relationships between stressors for the Indigenous and Australian population by remoteness.ResultsIn remote locations, between 2002 and 2008, exposure to life stressors decreased significantly for the Indigenous population across seven of the eleven stressors. In non-remote locations, exposure to four of the stressors increased significantly. Exposure to stressors in the 2002 and 2008 non-remote Indigenous population were significantly higher than those for the 2006 Australian population for all items, except ‘alcohol and/or drug problems’ and ‘trouble with the police’, which showed no evidence of a difference. The factor analysis of the NLES for the 2002 and 2008 remote and non-remote Indigenous populations and the 2006 Australian population showed a consistent clustering of items into three groups: social transgressions; grief and trauma; and labour market stressors.ConclusionsThe reduction in exposure to life stressors for the remote Indigenous population may be related to policy and practice changes (e.g. more police, income quarantining, housing construction). The differential change in exposure to life stressors between remote and non-remote locations highlights the importance of presenting data for these geographic locations separately.

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Strong Souls: Development and Validation of a Culturally Appropriate Tool for Assessment of Social and Emotional Well-Being in Indigenous Youth

Abstract: Strong Souls demonstrated validity, reliability and cultural appropriateness as a tool for screening for SEWB among Indigenous young people in the Northern Territory.

Cited by 94 publications

References 34 publications

The Development of a Survey Instrument to Assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Resilience and Risk for Self-Harm

The Development of a Survey Instrument to Assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Resilience and Risk for Self-Harm

A service-level action research intervention to improve identification and treatment of cannabis and related mental health issues in young Indigenous Australians: a study protocol

Changes in exposure to ‘life stressors’ in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, 2002 to 2008

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