From: Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada—a scoping review
Author and publication year | Sample size | Indigenous identity group | Geographic location | Age-sex | Residential school attendance | Health status | Health related to residential school |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T Anderson [39] | N = 2571 | Inuit | NL, QC, NU, NT Off-reserve Northern | 18+ years M/F | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Personal and familial residential school attendance only significantly related to men's mental distress |
T Anderson and A Thompson [48] | N = 2925 | Inuit | NL, QC, NU, NT Off-reserve Northern | 15–54 years M/F | Personal Familial | General health | Personal and familial residential school attendance not significantly associated with self-reported excellent or very good health |
SS Barton, HV Thommasen, B Tallio, W Zhang and AC Michalos [49] | N = 201 | First Nations | BC Rural | M age = 63.5 (attended RS); M age = 61.2 (non-attendee) M = 93; F = 108 | Personal | General health | Residential school attendees reported lower self-health scores compared to non-attendees |
A Bombay, K Matheson and H Anisman [50] | N = 143 | First Nations | ON, SK, BC, QC, AB, NB, MB, NS On/off-reserve Rural/urban | 18–64 years M = 36; F = 107 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Offspring of residential school Survivors appeared at increased risk for depression |
A Bombay, K Matheson and H Anisman [51] | N = 399 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | ON Off-reserve | 18–69 years M = 88, F = 311 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Altered appraisals of threat were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms relative to non-residential school adults |
A Bombay, K Matheson and H Anisman [9] | N/A | First Nations | Canada-wide On-reserve | 18+ years M/F | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | The more generations that attended residential school, the poorer the psychological well-being of the next generation |
M Chongo, JG Lavoie, R Hoffman and M Shubair [52] | N = 24 | Aboriginal | BC Urban | 39–56 years M | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Many said historic trauma/residential school affected adherence to HAART, led to pain and/or abusing drugs, low self-esteem, self-blame, insecurity, fear, and resentment |
MJ Cooke, P Wilk, KW Paul and S Gonneville [33] | N = 4060 | Métis | Canada-wide Off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 6–14 years M = 2050, F = 2010 | Parental Familial | Physical health | Residential school is a positive predictor of obesity among younger boys/girls but a negative predictor among older girls |
RR Corrado and IM Cohen [5] | N = 127 | First Nations | BC | 17–81 years M = 89, F = 38 | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being Physical health | PTSD, substance abuse disorder, and major depression among residential school Survivors. Chronic headaches, heart problems, and arthritis also common |
KJP Craib, PM Spittal, SH Patel, WM Christian, A Moniruzzaman, ME Pearce, L Demerais, C Sherlock, MT Schechter and P Cedar Project [37] | N = 512 | Aboriginal | BC Urban Off-reserve | 14–30 years M = 247, F = 265 | Familial | Physical health | Having at least one parent who attended residential school was an independent risk factor for HCV infection |
T DeBoer, J Distasio, CA Isaak, LE Roos, S-L Bolton, M Medved, LY Katz, P Goering, L Bruce and J Sareen [53] | N = 504 | Aboriginal | AB Urban Off-reserve | Age N/A M = 320, F = 184 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Residential school history (particularly father’s history) and a number of mental and physical health conditions were significantly associated with volatile substance use |
D Dionne [44] | N = 5 | First Nations | AB On-reserve | 47–71 years M = 1, F = 4 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Participant co-researchers explained addiction to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism |
D Dionne and G Nixon [54] | N = 5 | First Nations | AB On-reserve | 47–71 years M = 1, F = 4 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | First Nations people and their family members suffered from trauma, shame, marginalization, institutionalized conditioning and abuse |
RF Dyck, C Karunanayake, B Janzen, J Lawson, VR Ramsden, DC Rennie, PJ Gardipy, L McCallum, S Abonyi, JA Dosman, et al. [32] | N = 874 | First Nations | SK On-reserve | 17–29 years M = 431, F = 443 | Personal Familial | Physical health | Participants who attended residential school had slightly higher prevalence of diabetes than those that did not, but not statistically significant. Those with parent or grandparent residential school history also did not significantly predict diabetes |
B Elias, J Mignone, M Hall, SP Hong, L Hart and J Sareen [41] | N = 2953 | First Nations | MB On-reserve | 18+ years M/F | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Attendees with abuse history likely to have history of suicide thoughts or attempts. Abuse history for non-attendees more likely for those with multi-generational residential school exposure |
D Feir [29] | N = 4939 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | ON, MB, SK, AB, BC On/off-reserve Rural/urban | 7–15 years M/F | Familial | General health | Children who had a mother that attended residential school fared better on numerous health dimensions than children whose mother did not attend |
IM Findlay, J Garcea and JG Hansen [55] | N = 105 | First Nations, Métis, non-status Aboriginal, other | SK Urban | 18–64 years M = 32, F = 72, Other = 1 | Personal Familial | General health | In part because residential school, as few as 6-11% reported physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being as excellent |
First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey (RHS) [42] | N = 22,602 | First Nations | Canada-wide (excl. NU) On-reserve | 0–11 years (C) 12–17 years (Y) 18+ years (A) M/F | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being Physical health | (C) No effects of familial residential school history (Y) Youth who had at least one parent attend residential school were more likely to have thought about suicide (A) Increased susceptibility to mental and physical health effects resulting from attendance at residential school |
First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) [25] | N = 21,757 | First Nations | Canada-wide On-reserve | 0–11 years (C) 12–17 years (Y) 18+ years (A) M/F | Personal Familial | Physical health Mental health/emotional well-being General health | (C) Emotional or behavioural problems not associated with familial residential school history (Y) Intergenerational impacts of residential school related to depressive symptoms (A) Attendees more likely to be diagnosed with at least one chronic condition, smoking (maternal), and report poorer overall health and well-being |
H Ghosh [30] | N = 20 | First Nations | ON Off-reserve Urban | 21–77 years M = 3, F = 17 | Personal | Physical health | Consumption of a higher concentration of carbohydrates at residential school partly indicative of higher incidences of diabetes among First Nations people. |
JP Gone [56] | N = 1 | First Nations | MB On-reserve | 50’s F | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Traumatic stressors caused by residential school related to historical trauma. Enduring problems through adulthood, (e.g., alcoholism, religious alienation, and troubled relationships) |
C Hackett, D Feeny and E Tompa [28] | N = 14,280 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | Canada-wide Off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 18+ years M, F | Familial | General health Mental health/emotional well-being | Familial residential school attendance was associated with lower self-perceived health and mental health and higher risk for distress, suicidal ideation and suicide attempt |
GK Healey [35] | N = 20 | Inuit | NU Northern | Parents of youth 13–19 years M = 3, F = 17 | Personal Familial | Physical health | Parents discussed sexual health in the context of historical community events related to settlement and/or residential school |
G Healey [34] | N = 20 | Inuit | NU Northern | 30–58 years M = 3, F = 17 | Personal Familial | Physical health | Traumatic experiences of the settlement and residential school era impact present-day family relationships and parent-adolescent communication in general and specifically sexual health |
HA Howard [31] | N = 124 | Indigenous | Canada-wide | 18–86 years M = 45, F = 79 | Personal Familial | Physical health | Residential school contributed to the urbanization of Indigenous people and to their health problems, in this case to eating habits affecting diabetes |
Y Iwasaki and JG Bartlett [57] | N = 26 | First Nations, Métis | Western Canada Urban | 26–69 years M = 9, F = 17 | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Some Indigenous individuals with diabetes described cumulative stress due to their traumatic experiences in residential schools |
Y Iwasaki and J Bartlett [58] | N = 26 | First Nations, Métis | Western Canada Urban | 26–69 years M = 9, F = 17 | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Some Indigenous individuals with diabetes described cumulative stress due to their traumatic experiences in residential schools |
Y Iwasaki, J Bartlett and J O’neil [59] | N = 26 | First Nations, Métis | Western Canada Urban | 26–69 years M = 9, F = 17 | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Some Indigenous individuals with diabetes described cumulative stress due to their traumatic experiences in residential schools |
K Jacklin [43] | N = 350 | First Nations | ON On-reserve | 18+ years 143 females interviewed for every 100 males | Personal Familial | General health | Least healthy, most unhappy and the most economically disadvantaged villages had a closer historical relationship to colonial influences (e.g., church, residential school and Indian Agents) |
R Jackson, R Cain and T Prentice [60] | N = 72 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Other | ON, BC, AB, MB, Atlantic region | 26–54 years M = 45, F = 23, Transgender = 4 | N/A | Mental health/emotional well-being | Some participants attributed experiences of depression to historical trauma and legacy of residential school |
LE Jones [61] | N = 31,630 | First Nations | Canada-wide On/off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 49+ years M/F | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Exposure to residential schools led to an increase in smoking and drinking and potentially worse mental health outcomes (e.g., acculturative stress leading to risk health behaviours) |
SA Juutilainen, R Miller, L Heikkilä and A Rautio [62] | N = 45 | First Nations, Sami | ON, Canada; Finland On-reserve | 18–80 years M = 18, F = 27 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | First Nations participants stated that personal and/or familial attendance at residential school had a negative impact on their health (e.g., language and cultural loss, fractured identity, and negative self-worth resulting in feelings of anger, stress, depression, and low-self-esteem) |
V Kaspar [27] | N = 13,881 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Other/multiple identity | Canada-wide Off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 34+ years M = 6246, F = 7635 | Personal | General health | Residential school attendance predicted negative health status both directly and indirectly through socioeconomic and community risk factors |
MJ Kral [63] | N = 27 | Inuit | NU Northern | 17–61 years M = 16, F = 11 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Romantic, family, and intergenerational relations described with suicidality in the context of colonial change. Negative effect of the colonial wound appears to have been on family relations, a serious form of cultural discontinuity |
MB Kumar [64] | N = 10,306 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | Canada-wide Off-reserve Rural/urban Northern | 26–59 years M/F | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | First Nations women, Métis men, and Métis women with personal or familial residential school history more likely than those without history to have had suicidal thoughts |
MB Kumar and A Nahwegahbow [65] | N = 4686 (APS) N = 3020 (CCHS–MH) | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | Canada-wide Off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 18–25 years | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Personal or familial residential school experience was marginally associated with suicidal thoughts among off-reserve First Nations young adults. |
MB Kumar, M Walls, T Janz, P Hutchinson, T Turner and C Graham [66] | N = 11,362 | Métis | QC, ON, SK, AB, NU Off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 20–59 years M/F | N/A | Mental health/emotional well-being | History of residential school experience not significantly associated with suicidal ideation |
M Lemstra, M Rogers, A Thompson, J Moraros and R Buckingham [67] | N = 603 | N/A | SK | N/A | N/A | Mental health/emotional well-being | Attending a residential school was independently associated with depressive symptomatology |
M Lemstra, M Rogers, A Thompson, J Moraros and R Buckingham [68] | N = 603 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | SK Off-reserve Urban | 18–69 years M = 277, F = 253 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Comparing to non-Indigenous IDUs, study found that Indigenous IDUs were more likely to be female and younger, less likely to receive paid income and were more likely to have attended residential school or had a parent/grandparent attend |
A Moniruzzaman, ME Pearce, SH Patel, N Chavoshi, M Teegee, W Adam, WM Christian, E Henderson, KJ Craib and MT Schechter [69] | N = 605 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | BC Off-reserve Urban | 14–30 years M = 313, F = 292 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Having at least one parent who attended residential school was marginally significant with attempted suicide |
N Mota, B Elias, B Tefft, M Medved, G Munro and J Sareen [70] | N = 1125 | First Nations | MB On-reserve | 12–17 years M = 520, F = 605 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Suicidality not significantly related to parent/grandparent attending residential school |
RT Oster, A Grier, R Lightning, MJ Mayan and EL Toth [71] | N = 10 | First Nations | AB On-reserve | 20+ years M = 7, F = 3 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being Physical health | Diabetes, broken communities, loss of parenting skills, addictions, suicides, and marital breakups, apprehended children, lifeline (culture) severed, shame, loss of a voice, mental health problems, contaminated families, disarray and chaos, and pain |
EA Owen-Williams [72] | N = 6 | First Nations | BC On/off-reserve Rural | N/A | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Three Elders personally attended residential school and the trauma of these schools was woven throughout each of the interviews. A legacy of resulting anger and alcohol and drug use occurred within communities. |
J Reading and B Elias [4] | N = 2663 | First Nations, Inuit | Canada-wide On-reserve | 45+ years M, F | Personal | General health | 65% of residential school attendees reported fair or poor health status |
LH Robertson [73] | N = 3 | Aboriginal | N/A | N/A | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Individuals exhibited a cluster of symptoms consistent with Brasfield’s typology, Residential School Syndrome, a specific form of PTSD |
A Ross, J Dion, M Cantinotti, D Collin-Vézina and L Paquette [74] | N = 358 | Indigenous | QC On/off-reserve Rural/urban | 18+ years M = 164, F = 194 | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being General health | Residential school attendance was linked to alcohol problems and 83 participants reported that residential school had a negative impact on their health and well-being |
C Rotenberg [75] | N = 8801 | First Nations | Atlantic, QC, ON, Prairies, BC, Territories Off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 15+ years M/F | Personal Familial | General health | The study did not detect any significant differences with respect to selected health outcomes analyzed |
JP Rothe, P Makokis, L Steinhauer, W Aguiar, L Makokis and G Brertton [76] | N = 15 | First Nations | AB On-reserve | 18–29 years M, F | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Impaired driving, alcohol abuse, and intergenerational impacts due to local people’s traumatic experience with federal government residential schools |
D Smith, C Varcoe and N Edwards [77] | N = 73 | Aboriginal | Location N/A Rural/urban | Age N/A M = 7, F = 66 | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Participants described intergenerational effects of residential school as the root of addiction, violence, and poverty among individuals, families, and communities |
I Sochting, R Corrado, IM Cohen, RG Ley and C Brasfield [78] | N = 127 | First Nations | BC | 17–81 years M = 89, F = 38 | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being Physical health | Risk factors for PTSD and mental health problems. Somatic complaints, such as chronic headaches, heart problems, high blood pressure, and arthritis |
CD Stirbys [79] | N = 29 | First Nations, Inuit, and Métis | ON | Age N/A F | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Residential schools created initial stressors for those who attended them; the longer-term effects of the children’s experiences showed up in the form of for example, alcoholism, drug abuse, or other self-destructive behaviours |
R Stout [40] | N = 17 | First Nations, Métis, Non-Status, Aboriginal, Undisclosed identity | MB, SK Off-reserve Urban | 18–51 years F = 17 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Twelve of the women agreed that familial attendance at residential schools have had an enduring impact on their lives and mental health |
R Stout and S Peters [24] | N = 6 | First Nations | MB | Age N/A F = 6 | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Women related how they had a variety of mental health illnesses including depression, eating disorders, workaholism, obsessive-compulsive disorders, self-hate, and low self-esteem |
M van Niekerk and A Bombay [80] | N = 4934 | First Nations | Canada-wide (excl. NU) On-reserve | N/A | Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Having a parent who attended residential school put First Nations adults diagnosed with cancer at greater risk for psychological distress compared to those without this family history. |
C Varcoe and S Dick [36] | N = 30 | First Nations, Mixed identity (4 identified as Aboriginal) | BC On/off-reserve Rural | 16–58 years F = 30 | Personal Familial | Physical health Mental health/emotional well-being | Women’s experiences demonstrated how gender, rural living, poverty, racism, and colonialism intersect and increase risk for health problems, including STIs and HIV |
ML Walls, D Hautala and J Hurley [81] | N/A | First Nations | Central Canada, USA On-reserve | Age N/A M/F | Personal Familial | Mental health/emotional well-being | Suicidal behaviour was described by community members as a problem with deep historical and contemporary structural roots |
ML Walls and LB Whitbeck [38] | N = 853 | First Nations; American Indian | Canada-wide, USA On-reserve | Mean age = 39.3 M, F (~72%) | Personal | Mental health/emotional well-being | Bivariate results show that culturally relevant early lifetime (residential school) and adulthood (perceived historical loss) stressors are negatively associated with mental health among adults |
D Wardman and D Quantz [82] | N = 15 | Aboriginal | AB, BC Rural/urban | 20–60 years M = 2, F = 13 | N/A | Mental health/emotional well-being | Participants related their binge drinking to a broader perception of shame and cultural loss, for some this began in residential schools |
K Wilson, MW Rosenberg and S Abonyi [26] | N = 51,080 | First Nations, Inuit, Métis | Canada-wide On/off-reserve Rural/urban/ Northern | 18+ years M, F | Personal | General health | Residential school attendees reported worse health status than the population who did not attend residential school |