Indigenous Youths’ Strain and Delinquency: Investigating the Individual and Cumulative Impact of Strain Through a Cultural Lens

Using General Strain Theory as a framework, this study examines the direct effects of seven categories of strain that fall under three broad domains, negative emotions, and substance use on Indigenous youths’ delinquency. Additionally, the cumulative impact of experiencing more than one domain or category is evaluated. Cultural connectedness and support systems are assessed as potential protective factors. Using a sample of Indigenous youth (N = 359) in the United States, this study employs multiple imputation, correlations, and stepwise negative binomial regressions to address the research questions. Results show that few individual strain domains and categories were significant predictors of delinquency. However, there was a cumulative effect of strain where, as the number of domains or categories experienced increases, so did the likelihood of delinquency. Negative emotions were not associated with delinquency and there was limited support for cultural connectedness and support systems’ ability to buffer against delinquent behaviors. Finally, substance use was strongly associated with delinquency. Therefore, there is merit in using the GST framework to examine Indigenous youth delinquency through a cultural lens. However, more culturally integrated research needs to be conducted to fully understand Indigenous youth’s strain and delinquency, and what should be done to provide further support.