Citation

Hallett D, Chandler MJ, Lalonde CE. Cogn. Dev. 2007; 22(3): 392-399.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cogdev.2007.02.001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This brief report details a preliminary investigation into how community-level variability in knowledge of Aboriginal languages relate to "band"-level measures of youth suicide. In Canada, and, more specifically, in the province of British Columbia (BC), Aboriginal youth suicide rates vary substantially from one community to another. The results reported demonstrate that not only did this simple language-use indicator prove to have predictive power over and above that of six other cultural continuity factors identified in previous research, but also that youth suicide rates effectively dropped to zero in those few communities in which at least half the band members reported a conversational knowledge of their own "Native" language. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Aboriginal; Language; Youth suicide; Adolescent development