The Elders' Resilience Curriculum

The Elders' Resilience Curriculum: Toward Building Empirical Evidence Around a Culturally-Grounded, Strengths-Based Intervention

The overall goal of this research is to better understand if and how the Elders' Resilience Curriculum (ERC), a culturally grounded, school-based upstream suicide prevention program taught by White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) Elders to youth, promotes connectedness, cultural strengths, and reasons for living among American Indian youth.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Suicidal Ideation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Elders' Resilience Curriculum

Detailed Description

The overall goal of this research is to better understand if and how the Elders' Resilience Curriculum (ERC), a culturally grounded, school-based upstream suicide prevention program taught by White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) Elders to youth, promotes connectedness, cultural strengths, and reasons for living among American Indian youth. Prior to this trial, the investigators collaborated with WMAT research partners to gather qualitative data to identify key protective factors and core components of the ERC. After identifying key protective factors and core components of the ERC, the investigators developed a culturally adapted assessment battery and theoretical model to assess the ERC. This study works with White Mountain Apache tribal community partners to collaboratively pilot test a rigorous evaluation of the ERC.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 72
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Whiteriver, Arizona, United States, 85941
      • CIH Whiteriver Office

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ages 9-14 years
• Enrolled in a school where the Elders' Resilience Curriculum is delivered
• Participating in the Elders' Resilience Curriculum Program

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parent/Guardian objection to youth participation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Elders' Resilience Curriculum Recipients; Youth aged 9-14 who receive the Elders' Resilience Curriculum	Behavioral: Elders' Resilience Curriculum; The Elders' Resilience Curriculum (ERC) is a culturally grounded, school-based program taught by White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) Elders to youth. It is designed to prevent suicide ideation and behaviors for American Indian youth; Other Names: ERC

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Reasons for Life as Assessed by the Reasons for Life Scale	11 self-report items from the Reasons for Life scale, measures beliefs and experiences that make youth feel like life is enjoyable, worthwhile, and meaningful. Responses range from 1 (not at all) to 3 (a lot) with higher scores indicating more reasons for life. Total scores range from 11-33 with higher scores indicating more reasons for life. Change was calculated from the difference between endline and baseline responses.	Baseline, 26 weeks
Change in Cultural Connectedness as Assessed by the Cultural Connectedness Scale - Short Form	The Cultural Connectedness Scale-short version is a 9-item self-report measure that assesses connection to cultural identity, traditions, and spirituality among First Nations youth. Responses vary - five questions are yes/no, three questions range from 0 (disagree) to 1 (agree) and the last question ask about frequency, ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (every day). Higher agreement (i.e., "yes" or "agree" responses) indicate greater levels of cultural connectedness. Total scores range from 0-12 with higher scores indicating greater levels of cultural connectedness. Change was calculated from the difference between endline and baseline responses.	Baseline, 26 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Awareness of Connectedness as Assessed by the Awareness of Connectedness Scale	The Awareness of Connectedness Scale is a 12-item self-report measure that evaluates awareness of connection with self, family, community, and the natural environment. Responses range from 0 (not at all) to 2 (a lot) with higher scores representing greater levels of awareness of connectedness. Total scores range from 0-24 with higher scores representing greater levels of awareness of connectedness. Change was calculated from the difference between endline and baseline responses.	Baseline, 26 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Victoria O'Keefe, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 15, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 16, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): May 16, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 13, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 13, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): September 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 4, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 15, 2025
• Last Verified: May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Suicide prevention; Alaska Native; American Indian
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Self-Injurious Behavior; Suicide; Suicidal Ideation
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB00018615; K01MH122702 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No