Home life and well‐being among Cherokee adolescents

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Robert H. Bradley
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12643

RESEARCH

Home life and well-being among Cherokee

adolescents

Robert H. Bradley

Center for Child and Family Success, Arizona

State University, Tempe, Arizona,

United States

Correspondence

Robert H. Bradley, Center for Child and

Family Success, Arizona State University,

951 S. Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.

Email: robert.bradley@asu.edu

Funding information

The research was supported by a grant from

Health Resources and Services Administration,

U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services (MC 25675)

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this study is to document connections

between the social and physical affordances of home life and

development for Cherokee adolescents.

Background: The affordances of the home environment

have implications for adolescent well-being. However,

research on the connection between most aspects of

home life and most components of well-being for Native

American adolescents is limited.

Method: This study of 54 Cherokee adolescents considered

five dimensions of home life and the relation of these

dimensions with four aspects of competence, three positive

attitudes, and three psychological problems.

Results: Having a rich array of learning materials was

related to vocabulary attainment, and having parents who

provided productive modeling and encouragement was

related to self-efficacy for academic achievement, social

self-efficacy, and perceived endurance. Family companionship

was related to self-control, social skills, physical strength, and

endurance. Native American adolescents living in homes with

good household routines and regulations had lower levels of

externalizing symptoms.

Conclusion: Having a supportive family, good household

routines, and a substantial number of learning materials is

connected with overall well-being in Cherokee adolescents.

Implications: Results attesting to the value of close and

supportive connections with family for Cherokee adolescents

offer directions for programs aimed at improving both

parenting practice and adolescent adaptive functioning.

KEYWORDS

endurance, home environment, learning materials, maladaptive behavior,

modeling, parent–child relationships, physical environment, self-control,

self-efficacy, sleep problems, social skills, vocabulary attainment

Received: 8 June 2020Revised: 3 November 2021Accepted: 14 November 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12643

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

906 Family Relations. 2023;72:906–922.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

In any society, an overall sense of well-being is more likely to emerge if one has developed a

variety of positive skills and behavioral proclivities (Benson et al., 2011). Having a broad reper-

toire of skills is especially useful if one lives in circumstances that pose risks for well-being, such

as trauma-related circumstances experienced by Native Americans (Brave Heart et al., 2011).

As prior work with populations that have faced trauma makes clear, severe stress exposure,

especially if it comes in multiple forms and continues over years, can result in a multiplicity of

negative outcomes for individuals, including difficulties in enacting the role of parent

(Bowers & Yehuda, 2016). This is the circumstance that many Native American Communities

have faced. Brown-Rice (2013) examined the role of historical trauma and loss among Native

Americans, a process that has included colonization and many forms of disruption to family

and community life. Such conditions can lead to unresolved emotional distress, difficulties in

coping, and difficulties implementing productive forms of parenting. Over the years, Native

American communities have worked to become adaptive cultures for their children, with many

Native American parents adjusting their approaches to childrearing in an effort to enable their

children to become healthy, well-functioning adults in a complex society that has goals that are

not always consistent with indigenous mores (Garrett, 1996; Wark et al., 2019; White et al.,

2018). The process of adaptation has been formidable given the disruptions—sometimes

traumatic—that have often occurred in Native American families and the discrimination mem-

bers of indigenous communities often experience (Brown-Rice, 2013; Stumblingbear-Riddle &

Romans, 2012). What remains unclear is how particular aspects of home life contribute to the

development of skills and proclivities generally considered useful for a productive life for Native

American children.

Research shows that Native American children aged 12 years and older are at higher risk

for many psychological problems (American Psychiatric Association, 2017; Bagalman &

Heisler, 2016; Cherokee Nation Public Health, 2014; HeavyRunner-Rioux & Hollist, 2010;

Whitbeck et al., 2014). However, research also shows that the majority of Native American

adolescents do not manifest serious health or developmental problems (Burnette &

Figley, 2016; Health Resources and Services Administration, 2021). More fully explicating the

processes that enable Native American children to become resilient would seem useful given

that functioning adaptively as an adult requires having a diverse array of skills, especially for

members of underrepresented communities that may have less access to the kinds of resources

available in more privileged communities (Benson et al., 2011; Cabrera and the SRCD Ethnic

and Racial Issues Committee, 2013; Willeto, 2007). Scholars interested in the development of

children from underrepresented communities are increasingly recommending that researchers

should employ a holistic perspective regarding the contexts in which children live and the devel-

opmental assets children need to function adaptively (Burnette & Figley, 2016; Cabrera and the

SRCD Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee, 2013; Henson et al., 2017; Masten & Barnes, 2018;

Rountree & Smith, 2016; Stumblingbear-Riddle & Romans, 2012). A holistic perspective com-

ports with ideas regarding resilience and developmental assets and the idea that humans are

complex, self-organizing beings that inhabit complex dynamic settings (Benson et al., 2011;

Gomersall, 2018; Witherington & Boom, 2019).

Developmental dynamics are complex (Witherington & Bloom, 2019)withresearchshowing

that psychologicalproblems may undermine productive engagement in activities needed for posi-

tive development (Agnafors et al., 2021). This study considers multiple aspects of development

that appear particularly relevant during the approach to adulthood: (a) competence (intellectual

skills, self-control, social skills, physical health), (b) positive attitudes (self-efficacy for academic

achievement, self-efficacy for enlisting social supports, and perceived endurance), and

(c) behavioral problems that might interferewith productive activity (externalizingbehavior, sleep

problems). Such an approach is guided by the developmental assets framework and notions about

strength-based well-being of Indigenous children and ideas on emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2007;

Benson et al., 2011; Benight et al., 2018; Rountree & Smith, 2016; Willeto, 2007). Likewise, the

HOME LIFE AND WELL-BEING AMONG CHEROKEE ADOLESCENTS907