Resilience and Protective Factors for Mental Health among Indigenous Youth in Canada: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Indigenous youth's inherent strength and resilience play a vital role in their well-being and mental health. Protective factors, closely linked to resilience, spanning individual, family, and community levels reinforce positive mental health outcomes. The purpose of the present scoping review was to summarize the available literature that describes resilience and/or protective factors promoting mental health and well-being among Indigenous youth in Canada. As a secondary objective, this review investigated community involvement reported in the identified sources. JBI scoping review methodology was followed, and the search of PubMed, EMBASE, CINHAL, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Scopus commenced in August 2021, and was updated in February 2023. A targeted Google search was also conducted to identify eligible grey literature. A total of 61 papers were included in data extraction. The types of sources identified were observational (n=22), participatory action research (n=11), mixed/multi-methods (n=10), qualitative (n=9), case study (n=4), quasi-experimental (n=1), experimental (=1), and other designs such as quality improvement and program evaluation (n=3). Additionally, only a handful of included studies reported use of an Indigenous-specific approach, such as Two-Eyed seeing. Protective and resilience factors were identified across various levels such as individual (n=52), interpersonal (n=37), and wider environmental beyond social systems (n=37) levels. Forty studies described community involvement, which included non-specified community members, like friends or citizens (n=21), youth (n=19), Indigenous community members such as leaders and workers (n=14), and Elders (n=11). These groups were engaged to varying degrees, functioning either as equal collaborators, consultants, or, in some instances, as decision-makers.