A quantitative examination of the impact of acculturation and childhood trauma on resilience and health status among native Hawaiians

This study identified the correlations among childhood trauma and acculturation in the Native Hawaiian community and the health and resilience of Native Hawaiians. Native Hawaiians exhibit increased morbidity and exposure to childhood trauma compared to the general United States population. Three hypotheses were tested: (a) the degree of acculturation, the extent to which the individual still honors and practices ancient cultural beliefs and rituals, would show a significant correlation with resilience, (b) degree of acculturation would show a significant correlation with health status, and (c) adverse childhood experiences would correlate significantly but negatively with health status. Four surveys were used in this study: the Adverse Childhood Experiences Test, the Na Mea Hawai'i Scale to measure acculturation, the Resilience Scale for Adults, and the SF-8 to measure health status. The participants were 84 individuals over age 18 who self-identify as Native Hawaiian from the island of Hawai'i. Native Hawaiian research assistants were utilized to access to the community and administer the surveys. Survey scores were calculated and relationships among the variables were determined using Spearman's rho. The sample appeared to be rooted in their culture and understanding of Hawaiian culture based on their acculturation scores. No significant relationships were found among Hawaiian acculturation and childhood trauma exposure, resilience, and health status. Participants' exposure to types of trauma in childhood was relatively limited. Correlation results suggested that exposure to more types of trauma is associated with poorer health status in all areas except vitality, general health, and ability to carry out physical roles. Exposure to more types of trauma was associated with poorer family coherence and social resources. Study results suggested that the participants had generally high levels of resilience and health. Additionally, several significant and positive relationships were found between the health and resilience factors. More research utilizing a cross-section of the Hawaiian population and measurements that align with Hawaiian cultural preferences is needed to generate results that are representative for a larger proportion of Native Hawaiian community.