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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Adolesc. 2023 Sep 1;95(8):1653–1665. doi: 10.1002/jad.12233

Discrimination and School Outcomes in First Nation Youth: The Role of Positive Psychological Characteristics

Melissa R Schick 1,2, Akshiti A Todi 3, Tessa Nalven 1, Nichea S Spillane 1
PMCID: PMC10926939  NIHMSID: NIHMS1966134  PMID: 37655638

Abstract

Introduction:

Positive psychological characteristics have been found to be associated with discrimination and school outcomes separately; however, no work has examined these associations together or in NAI populations. North American Indigenous adolescents experience high rates of racial discrimination. Because discrimination has a detrimental impact on academic outcomes it is critical to identify factors that could buffer this impact. The purpose of this study was to examine the indirect effect of racial discrimination on three distinct school outcomes (i.e., attitudes towards school, grades, and educational attainment goals) through the pathway of three positive psychological characteristics (i.e., satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, and self-compassion).

Methods:

First Nation adolescents living on a rural reserve in Eastern Canada (N=106, Mage=14.6 years, 50.0% female) completed a pencil-and-paper survey in Spring 2017 as part of a larger community-based participatory research study.

Results:

In the model examining school attitudes, indirect effects through subjective happiness (b=−.21, 95%CI [−.53, −.03]) and self-compassion (b=−.19, 95%CI [−.39, −.04]), but not satisfaction with life, were significant. In the model examining grades, only the specific indirect effect through subjective happiness was significant (b=−.27, 95%CI [−.59 −.07]). Similarly, in the model examining school goals, only the indirect effect through subjective happiness was significant (b=−.40, 95%CI [−.94, −.08]). The direct effects of discrimination on school attitudes (b=.02, 95%CI [−.52, .56]), grades (b=.16, 95%CI [−.39, .71]), and school goals (b=−.03, 95%CI [−.90, .84]) were not significant after controlling for positive psychological characteristics.

Discussion:

Schools should foster positive emotions to enhance academic outcomes, especially for NAI youth who are more likely to experience racial discrimination.

Keywords: North American Indigenous, racial discrimination, life satisfaction, subjective happiness, self-compassion, school outcomes

Introduction

During adolescence, as youth form their identity, begin to understand the implications of race in their daily life, and consider how other people view their racial group (Quintana & McKown, 2008; Umaña-Taylor, 2016), racial discrimination (i.e., experiences in which one is treated unfairly by individuals and/or social institutions based on their race) may be particularly salient. North American Indigenous (NAI) communities have experienced widespread racial trauma since the beginnings of European colonial oppression through discriminatory practices including broken treaties, removal from tribal lands, and forced placement of NAI children into boarding schools where they faced many abuses and were stripped of their cultural practices (Brave Heart et al., 2011; Whitbeck et al., 2004). Today, experiences of racial discrimination continue to be highly prevalent among NAI people (i.e., more than 50% of NAI people report having experienced racial discrimination in their lifetime; Lee et al., 2019), including stereotyping (e.g., being asked whether they live in a teepee; Clark et al., 2014), (e.g., being told “you don’t look Indian” or “pretendians” falsely claiming indigineity; Dickerson et al., 2019; Greenfield et al., 2021; Nagle, 2019), and exposure to environmental microaggressions (e.g., racist imagery in the media and elsewhere, such as Native mascots; Davis-Delano et al., 2020). NAI communities have identified these historical injustices and ongoing contemporary discrimination stemming from colonial oppression as among the root causes of health disparities they experience (Brave Heart et al., 2011; Gone et al., 2019). Racial discrimination can be among the most stressful life experiences (Williams & Mohammed, 2009) and is associated with detrimental consequences to both physical and mental health across the lifespan, including increased risk-taking behaviors (Benner et al., 2018; Cave et al., 2020; Nalven et al., unpublished findings; Schick et al., 2021b) and inequities in healthcare services (Kitching et al., 2020), including among NAI adolescents (D’Amico et al., 2021; Dickerson et al., 2019).

One negative effect of the widespread discrimination perpetrated against NAI adolescents may be poor school outcomes (i.e., poorer attitudes about schools, lower grades, lower education attainment). Instances of discrimination may trigger stereotype threat which likely leads to poor school outcomes (Appel & Kronberger, 2012; Seo & Lee, 2021). Notably, NAI people report the lowest high school graduation rates (i.e., 74% of NAI students, compared to 86% of the general population of students; National Center for Education Statistics, 2020), are under-represented in higher education (i.e., 22% of NAI 18–24 year-olds were enrolled in college in 2020 [versus 40% of 18–24 year-olds only in the U.S. nationally], and 15.4% of NAI adults over the age of 25 hold a Bachelor’s degree [verus 32.9% nationally]; Espinosa et al., 2019; Postsecondary National Policy Initiative, 2022), and are disproportionately under-identified for placement in special education classes, perhaps due to a failure of schools to utilize culturally appropriate and sensitive screening methodologies (Morgan et al., 2018). Similar findings among other minoritized adolescents have linked experiences of racial discrimination with negative school outcomes (Benner et al., 2018) such as perception of school climate (Griffin et al., 2017), academic curiosity, persistence, and grades (Neblett Jr et al., 2006). School engagement plays a vital role in facilitating the development of behavioral and cognitive skills, which have a role in subsequent achievement (Feinstein & Duckworth, 2006). It may be that, without the negative impacts of discrimination, educational attainment and outcomes for NAI adolescents would be more equitable. To facilitate the positive development of NAI adolescents, the identification of factors that might buffer the effects of racial discrimination on school outcomes is a critical next step for research and has direct implications for interventions.

Positive psychology, which focuses on conditions and processes that contribute to resilience and well-being, may be well-suited as a framework to consider potential protective factors (Gable & Haidt, 2005). NAI communities and individuals have shown tremendous resilience in the face of the aforementioned adversities related to colonial oppression, which highlights their ability to utilize their strengths to overcome hardships. Positive psychological constructs that have been found to contribute to improved well-being include satisfaction with life (i.e., the evaluation of one’s life conditions as being satisfactory or unsatisfactory; Diener & Ryan, 2009), subjective happiness (i.e., an individual’s personal assessment of whether they are generally happy or unhappy; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005), and self-compassion (i.e., the tendancy to be kind and accepting towards oneself; Neff, 2003). These positive characteristics have been found to be related to a range of positive outcomes, including current and future physical health (Post, 2014; Siahpush et al., 2008), increased intuition (Bolte et al., 2003), creativity (Isen et al., 1987), and adaptive coping with stressful situations (Folkman, 1997, 2008; Folkman & Lazarus, 1985).

Applied to school outcomes, positive characteristics have the potential to play a protective role, yet they have been understudied to date. Emotional well-being broadly has been found to be associated with academic achievement (van Batenburg-Eddes & Jolles, 2013) and higher grade point average (GPA; Suldo et al., 2011). Satisfaction with life has been found to be related to increased student engagement in school, academic achievement, and GPA (Heffner & Antaramian, 2016; Lepp et al., 2014; Lewis et al., 2011). Similarly, subjective happiness has been found to be associated with significantly increased school engagement (e.g., actively participating in classroom activities; Datu et al., 2017) and academic achievement (Otaghi et al., 2020). Self-compassion has been shown to buffer against perceived academic failure among undergraduate students (Neff et al., 2005). Previous work has called for an examination of the ways in which positive psychology can be leveraged to improve outcomes for NAI people (e.g., Bullen et al., 2023; Morse et al., 2016; O’Keefe & Wingate, 2013; Schick et al., 2021a). Given their positive association with school outcomes, positive psychological characteristics may be useful if leveraged through strengths-based teaching methodologies and academic structures to buffer against the negative effects of discrimination and promote positive school outcomes for NAI students.

While the aforementioned positive psychology constructs have not been examined as potential buffers against the deleterious effects of discrimination on school outcomes among NAI youth, research suggests that positive characteristics more broadly are relevant to academic outcomes (e.g., Datu et al., 2017). Extending previous literature, the purpose of the present study was to explore the role of positive psychological characteristics in the association between racial discrimination and school attitudes and outcomes in a sample of NAI adolescents. We hypothesized that positive psychological characteristics would be negatively associated with experiences of racial discrimination but would be positively associated with school outcomes. Furthermore, we hypothesized that positive psychological characteristics would partially explain the association between experiences of racial discrimination and school outcomes.

Material and Methods

Participants and Procedures

The present study represents a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a larger community-based participatory research (CBPR) study examining risk and protective factors associated with substance use among First Nation adolescents (Spillane et al., 2020; 2021). CBPR is a “partnership approach to research that equitably involves community members, organizational representatives, and researchers in all aspects of the research” (Israel et al., 2005, p. 5) and provides the opportunity to improve research by providing communities with a genuine voice in the process (Wallerstein & Duran, 2010). A Community Advisory Board (CAB) comprised of interested community stakeholders was assembled to guide the design of the parent study. This CAB provided guidance with respect to recruitment procedures, reviewing study measures to ensure that they were culturally appropriate and relevant and with interpreting study findings, among other activities.

Participants were First Nation adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 living in a reserve community and were recruited via snowball sampling through advertisements and announcements in reserve communities as well as through word of mouth. All research procedures were approved by institutional IRB and tribal chief and council prior to data collection. Parent permission was acquired prior to recruiting each adolescent into the study; once parent permission was obtained, research staff explained the study to the adolescent, who provided written assent. A total of 106 First Nation adolescents from reserve communities in Eastern Canada completed pencil-and-paper surveys either in small groups or individually at central locations in their community (e.g., a community center or health center conference room) in spring 2017. To protect against breaches of confidentiality, participants who completed surveys in small groups were instructed to sit apart from one another so that other could not see their responses. Of this sample, 96.2% (n = 102) were attending local public schools, while four were no longer attending school but had not graduated. The questionnaires took approximately 45 minutes to complete, and participants were compensated $25 for their time and effort. See Table 1 for participant demographic characteristics.

Table 1.

Participant demographic characteristics and descriptive statistics

M (SD) Range n (%)
Age 14.58 (2.15) 11 – 18
Sex
 Male 53 (50.0%)
 Female 53 (50.0%)
Year in School
 Grade 6 19 (17.9%)
 Grade 7 14 (13.2%)
 Grade 8 12 (11.3%)
 Grade 9 15 (14.2%)
 Grade 10 13 (12.3%)
 Grade 11 18 (17.0%)
 Grade 12 11 (10.4%)
 No longer in school, but did not graduate 4 (3.8%)
Racial discrimination 0.53 (0.41) 0 – 2
Satisfaction with life 29.04 (7.78) 7 – 42
Subjective happiness 4.56 (1.07) 1 – 7
Self-compassion 3.07 (0.50) 1 – 5
School attitudes 3.16 (1.19) 1 – 5
 I hate school 11 (10.4%)
 I don’t like school very much 20 (18.9%)
 I like school some 30 (28.3%)
 I like school quite a bit 31 (29.2%)
 I like school very much 14 (13.2%)
Grades 3.16 (1.12) 1 – 5
 59% and below 10 (9.4%)
 60–69% 18 (17.0%)
 70–79% 34 (32.1%)
 80–89% 33 (31.1%)
 90% and above 11 (10.4%)
Educational attainment goals 3.62 (1.67) 1 – 6
 Not finish high school 2 (1.9%)
 Graduate from high school 44 (41.5%)
 Graduate from tech school/two-year college 9 (8.5%)
 Get military training 9 (8.5%)
 Graduate from 4-year college 21 (19.8%)
 Get a Master’s, M.D., or Ph.D. degree 21 (19.8%)
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Measures

Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination was measured using a 10-item self-report measure designed to assess a range of potential types and sources of racial discrimination for American Indian adolescents, including global discrimination, discrimination by authority figures, and discrimination at school (Whitbeck et al., 2001). We adapted this measure to replace “American Indian” with “First Nation.” Participants rated each item on a three-point scale from 0 (never) to 2 (many times). Item scores were averaged together to create a total score; higher scores represent greater racial discrimination. This scale has been used in previous research with NAI adolescents and has been found to have good psychometric properties (LaFromboise et al., 2006; Walls et al., 2007). Cronbach’s α in the present study was .86.

Positive Psychological Characteristics

Satisfaction with Life.

The Student Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Huebner, 1991) is a 7-item self-report measure assessing the degree to which participants perceive their life conditions as positive. Participants rated each item on a three-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Item scores were summed to produce a total scale score; higher scores represent greater satisfaction with life. The SWLS is the adolescent version of the widely-used Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), which has been used in previous research with samples comprised of NAI people (e.g., Roh et al., 2015; Stumblingbear-Riddle & Romans, 2012). Cronbach’s α in the present study was .82.

Subjective Happiness.

The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) is a 4-item measure assessing overall happiness, happiness relative to one’s peers, and participants’ characterization of themselves as generally happy or unhappy people. Participants rated each item on a 7-point Likert-type scale and items were averaged together to create a total score; higher scores represent greater subjective happiness. The SHS has been used in previous research examining well-being among NAI people (e.g., Brown & Gibbons, 2008; Schick et al., 2022a; Schick et al., 2022b). Cronbach’s α in the present study was .65.

Self-Compassion.

The Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form (SCS-SF; Raes et al., 2011) is a 12-item self-report measure that assesses the frequency of engaging in behaviors that are consistent with facets of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Participants rated each item from a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). Item scores were averaged together to create a total scale score; higher scores represent greater self-compassion. The SCS-SF has been found to have a high degree of correlation with the long form of the SCS (Raes et al., 2011) and has been used in previous research among NAI individuals (e.g., Chahar Mahali et al., 2021; Schick et al., 2022a; Spillane et al., 2022). Cronbach’s α in the present study was .60.

School Outcomes

School attitudes were measured using a single-item assessing how participants feel about going to school with response options ranging from 1 (I hate school) to 5 (I like school very much). Grades in school were assessed using a single-item assessing how well participants generally do in school with response options ranging from 1 (59% and below) to 5 (90% and above). Educational attainment goals were assessed using a single-item assessing participants’ highest educational goal with response options ranging from 1 (not finish high school) to 6 (get a master’s, M.D., or Ph.D.).

Analytic Strategy

All study analyses were conducted using SPSS v26.0. As recommended by Tabachnick and Fidell (2013), all variables were assessed for adherence to assumptions of normality. Next, correlations were calculated between relevant study variables to explore their bivariate associations. Finally, three parallel mediation models were conducted for each of the school outcomes using the PROCESS SPSS macro (Hayes, 2018) to examine the indirect effect of racial discrimination on school outcomes (i.e., attitudes, grades, and goals) through the pathways of positive psychological characteristics (i.e., satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, and self-compassion). Given their significant bivariate correlations with grades, age and gender are included as covariates in the model with grades as the outcome. Bootstrapping was conducted with 5,000 random samples generated from the observed covariance matrix to estimate the standard errors of parameter estimates and the bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the indirect effects (MacKinnon et al., 2002; Preacher & Hayes, 2004). The indirect effect is considered significant if the 95% confidence interval does not contain zero (Preacher & Hayes, 2004).

Results

Based on benchmarks of skewness > 2 and kurtosis > 7 reflecting non-normality (Byrne, 2013; Curran et al., 1996), scores for primary variables of interest were normally distributed. Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1 and intercorrelations among racial discrimination, positive psychological characteristics, and school outcomes are presented in Table 2. In bivariate analyses, racial discrimination was significantly negatively associated with all positive psychological characteristics and with grades. Satisfaction with life was significantly positively associated with school attitudes and grades, subjective happiness was significantly positively associated with all school outcomes, and self-compassion was significantly positively associated with school attitudes.

Table 2.

Bivariate correlations among study variables of interest

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Racial discrimination -
2. Satisfaction with life −.38*** -
3. Subjective happiness −.32** .56*** -
4. Self-compassion −.25* .45*** .41*** -
5. School attitudes −.10 .30** .42*** .14 -
6. Grades −.20* .39*** .11 .42*** .46*** -
7. Educational attainment goals −.04 .004 .07 .07 .46*** .23* -
8. Age .17 −.13 −.09 −.001 −.08 −.22* −.08 -
9. Gender .11 .11 −.02 −.03 .12 .28** .14 −.02 -
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Note.

*

p < .05

**

p < .01

***

p < .001

In parallel mediation models examining the indirect effect of racial discrimination on school attitudes and educational attainment goals through the pathways of positive psychological characteristics, racial discrimination was significantly associated with satisfaction with life (b = −7.13, SE = 1.73, t = −4.11, p < .001, 95%CI [−10.56, −3.69]), subjective happiness (b = −0.82, SE = 0.25, t = −3.36, p = .001, 95%CI [−1.31, −0.34]), and self-compassion (b = −0.30, SE = 0.12, t = −2.56, p = .01, 95%CI [−0.54, −0.07]). Similarly, in a model examining the indirect effect of racial discrimination on grades through the pathways of positive psychological characteristics while controlling for the effects of age and gender, racial discrimination was significantly associated with satisfaction with life (b = −6.34, SE = 1.89, t = −3.36, p = .001, 95%CI [−10.08, −2.59]), subjective happiness (b = −0.97, SE = 0.27, t = −3.60, p = .001, 95%CI [−1.51, −0.44]), and self-compassion (b = −0.33, SE = 0.13, t = −2.50, p = .01, 95%CI [−0.59, −0.07]).

In the first model with school attitudes as the outcome (see Figure 1), the total indirect effect of racial discrimination on school attitudes through the pathway of the positive psychological characteristics was significant (b = −0.59, SE = 0.15, 95%CI [−0.93, −0.33]). Further, the direct path linking racial discrimination to school attitudes was no longer significant after controlling for the effects of the positive psychological characteristics (b = 0.02, SE = 0.27, t = 0.08, p = .94, 95%CI [−0.52, 0.56]). Subjective happiness (b = 0.25, SE = 0.12, t = 2.15, p = .03, 95%CI [0.02, 0.49]) and self-compassion (b = 0.63, SE = 0.23, t = 2.70, p = .008, 95%CI [0.17, 1.09]), but not satisfaction with life (b = 0.03, SE = 0.02, t = 1.60, p = .11, 95%CI [−0.01, 0.06]), were significantly associated with school outcomes.

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

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Summary of Analyses Explicating the Potential Explanatory Role of Positive Psychological Characteristics in the Association Between Racial Discrimination and School Attitudes

Note. Dashed line represents an association that is non-significant at the level p < .05

In the second model with grades as the outcome and controlling for the effects of age and gender (see Figure 2), the total indirect effect of racial discrimination on grades through the pathway of the positive psychological characteristics was significant (b = −0.42, SE = 0.16, 95%CI [−0.77, −0.16]). Further, the direct path linking racial discrimination to school attitudes was not significant after controlling for the effects of the positive psychological characteristics (b = 0.17, SE = 0.29, t = 0.60, p = .55, 95%CI [−0.40, 0.75]). Subjective happiness (b = 0.36, SE = 0.12, t = 3.02, p = .003, 95%CI [0.12, 0.60]), but not satisfaction with life (b = 0.02, SE = 0.02, t = 0.88, p = .38, 95%CI [−0.02, 0.05]) nor self-compassion (b = −0.10, SE = 0.23, t = −0.41, p = .68, 95%CI [−0.55, 0.36]), were significantly associated with grades.

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

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Summary of Analyses Explicating the Potential Explanatory Role of Positive Psychological Characteristics in the Association Between Racial Discrimination and Grades

Note. Dashed line represents an association that is non-significant at the level p < .05

In the third model with educational attainment goals as the outcome (see Figure 3), the total indirect effect of racial discrimination on educational attainment goals through the pathway of the positive psychological characteristics was not significant (b = −0.15, SE = 0.22, 95%CI [−0.62, 0.26]). However, the specific indirect effect of racial discrimination on educational attainment goals through the pathway of subjective happiness was significant (b = −0.40, SE = 0.22, 95%CI [−0.94, −0.08]). The direct path linking racial discrimination and educational attainment goals was not significant when controlling for the effects of the positive psychological characteristics (b = −0.03, SE = 0.44, t = −0.07, p = .95, 95%CI [−0.90, 0.84]). Subjective happiness (b = 0.49, SE = 0.19, t = 2.58, p = .01, 95%CI [0.11, 0.87]), but not satisfaction with life (b = −0.04, SE = 0.03, t = −1.47, p = .15, 95%CI [−0.09, 0.01]) nor self-compassion (b = 0.10, SE = 0.37, t = 0.27, p = .79, 95%CI [−0.64, 0.84]), was significantly associated with educational attainment goals.

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

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Summary of Analyses Explicating the Potential Explanatory Role of Positive Psychological Characteristics in the Association Between Racial Discrimination and Educational Attainment Goals

Note. Dashed line represents an association that is non-significant at the level p < .05

Discussion

The goal of the present study was to explore the role of positive psychological characteristics (i.e., satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, and self-compassion) underlying the association between racial discrimination and school outcomes (i.e., attitudes towards school, grades, and educational attainment goals). First, we found that racial discrimination was significantly negatively associated with all three positive psychological characteristics. This finding is consistent with a wide body of cross-sectional (Giamo et al., 2012; Verkuyten, 2008) as well as experimental and longitudinal research (Correa-Velez et al., 2010; Schmitt et al., 2003) demonstrating the deleterious effects of experiencing discrimination on well-being, including among non-NAI adolescents (for a meta-analytic review, see Benner et al., 2018). Further, we found that experiencing racial discrimination was significantly negatively associated with grades in school, consistent with literature regarding the deleterious effects of experiencing racial discrimination on academic achievement (Merolla & Jackson, 2019). These findings highlight the need for widespread change to reduce the incidence of racial discrimination to support the overall well-being of NAI youth. Of note, the measure of discrimination used in the present study included items reflecting experiences of discrimination from teachers and same-aged peers. Programs could be implemented within schools to shift the culture towards increasing non-acceptance of acts of discrimination. For example, the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Framework has been used in schools to leverage shared social values and prosocial behavioral expectations to reduce problematic behaviors (Carr et al., 2002; Sugai & Simonsen, 2012). Relatedly, it may be useful for teachers and school staff to receive training on cultural humility and the ways in which their actions can perpetuate harm and subsequently negatively influence students’ academic outcomes.

Next, we found support for an indirect effect of racial discrimination on school outcomes through the pathways of positive psychological characteristics. First, racial discrimination was associated with decreased subjective happiness, which in turn was associated with less positive attitudes towards school, poorer grades, and less educational attainment goals; interestingly, subjective happiness was the only positive psychological characteristics that demonstrated a significant indirect effect for each school outcome. This is consistent with previous literature finding happiness to be associated with a wide range of positive outcomes (Datu et al., 2017; Donaldson et al., 2015; Otaghi et al., 2020). Self-compassion was also found to be protective for school attitudes, consistent with previous literature finding self-compassion to demonstrate positive associations with attitudes towards learning, a desire to improve oneself, and increased sense of belonging in school (Long & Neff, 2018; Neff et al., 2005; Zhang & Chen, 2016). Finally, satisfaction with life was not found to be protective for any of the three school outcomes under investigation in the present study. However, of the three positive psychological characteristics, life satisfaction was most strongly negatively correlated with racial discrimination. Thus, it may be that although experiencing discrimination has a detrimental effect on student’s life satisfaction, this manifests in ways other than impacting school outcomes. Overall, the reasons for the different patterns of findings across positive psychological characteristics is unclear. It may be that happiness is broadly protective given its subjective nature, whereas life satisfaction is more influenced by discrimination (as suggested by our bivariate findings) or other objective, external conditions (e.g., social networks, socioeconomic status; Diener et al., 1999). These possibilities and others should be explored in future work focusing on these constructs. For example, qualitative work may be useful to explore the meaning of each construct to NAI adolescents and their perspectives on how these constructs may be related to discrimination and school outcomes.

Findings of the present study have implications for interventions that could be leveraged within schools to support student’s well-being. Specifically, positive psychological interventions (PPIs) are brief, often self-administered interventions that aim to enhance or elicit positive states by drawing attention to positive experiences and increasing engagement in positive activities (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Cha and Roberts (2019) identity mobilization framework posits that individuals from minoritized groups utilize identity-based resources, such as culturally specific knowledge, as strengths, but that the potential for leveraging those resources can be disrupted by identity-related tensions, such as those which might be expected in the context of experiencing racial discrimination. One PPI encourages individuals to identify their personal strengths and consider how they could use those strengths in new and different ways in their daily lives. Tests of this intervention found that individuals who tried using a personal strength daily for one week reported increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms relative to a control group, and that those effects persisted over time (Seligman et al., 2005). While PPIs have not, to date, been studied in NAI populations, they may be well-aligned with Indigenous conceptions of health and well-being and previous work has suggested cultural adaptations to increase their effectiveness for this population specifically (Schick et al., 2021a). Culturally grounded health promotion programs have been developed for NAI adolescents (e.g., de Heer et al., 2020; Dixon et al., 2007), but additional research is needed to explore the ways in which these programs may be able to incorporate PPIs, target responses to racial discrimination, and lessen the educational attainment gap (see Okamoto et al., 2014; Walters et al., 2020 for additional information on strategies for developing culturally grounded interventions for NAI communities). Such an intervention could be deployed within schools either as a targeted intervention for adolescents who have experienced discrimination, or as a universal prevention program to encourage students to maintain awareness of their strengths, increase happiness, and subsequently utilize personal resources to enhance academic outcomes.

While the present study contributes important new knowledge regarding the role of positive psychological characteristics underlying the association between experiences of racial discrimination and school outcomes, results should be considered within the context of the study’s limitations. First, the cross-sectional and correlational nature of this study precludes determination of the causal and temporal ordering of these associations. For example, while it is likely the case that racial discrimination contributes to lower life satisfaction, it may be that those who tend to be higher in life satisfaction have a more positive attentional bias (Xu et al., 2015) and are therefore less likely to notice instances of racial discrimination (Mekawi et al., 2021). Future research should utilize prospective, longitudinal designs to understand the nature of these associations more holistically. Second, considering the heterogeneity across NAI communities and given that this data was collected from one band of reserve-dwelling First Nation adolescents in Eastern Canada, findings may not generalize to other Indigenous groups, individuals in other regions, or adolescents living off-reserve or in urban areas. Third, our sample was relatively small, though it represents approximately one-third of the population of interest (i.e., adolescents within this age range living within the community; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2016). Nevertheless, we may have been underpowered to detect some effect; thus, non-significant findings should be interpreted with caution. Future research would benefit from replicating these analyses among other, larger samples to understand the generalizability of our findings. Further, two of our measures (i.e., the SHS and the SCS-SF) were found to have relatively low reliability based on Cronbach’s α; thus, our results with respect to subjective happiness and self-compassion should be interpreted with caution. This low reliability may be related to the multidimensional nature of each of these scales (e.g., the self-compassion scale includes items reflecting three facets of self-compassion; Bernardi, 1994; Tavakol & Dennick, 2011), or may reflect differences in the meanings of these constructs between NAI adolescents and the samples with whom these measures were developed. This finding provides further support for calls within the field to develop culturally-specific measures (Greenfield et al., 2015), which may better represent Indigenous values and beliefs about health and well-being, and for rigorous psychometric testing and potential adaptation of these measures. Finally, future research should include other factors that have been found to be related to racial discrimination, positive psychological characteristics, and school outcomes among NAI adolescents, such as parental racial socialization (Yasui et al., 2015), cultural identity (Schick et al., in press; Schick et al., 2021b), and mental health symptomatology (Tyser et al., 2014).

Despite these limitations, the present study provides important insights regarding the role of positive psychological characteristics underlying the association between racial discrimination and school outcomes. Specifically, results suggest that racial discrimination may significantly negatively impact NAI adolescents’ subjective happiness and self-compassion, which may negatively affect school outcomes in turn. These findings highlight the importance of societal change to reduce the incidence of racial discrimination to subsequently improve adolescents’ well-being and lessen the dispropovtionate educational attainment gap. Further, they may speak to the utility of positive psychological interventions’ implementation within school settings to strengthen resilience against racial discrimination, increase positive school attitudes, and improve academic performance.

Funding Statement:

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant K08DA028094. Work on this manuscript by the first author (MS) was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant T32DA019426. Work on this manuscript by the third author (TN) was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant F31DA053754 and by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant R25AA028464.

Footnotes

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement:

Data and materials are available upon request to the corresponding author.

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