Jessica H. L. Elm

• MSW, PhD
• Social and Health Scientist at Like the Tree Consulting LLC

Despite alarming health disparities among American Indians (AIs) and acknowledgement that stressors negatively influence health, conceptualization of the full spectrum of stressors that impact Indigenous communities is underdeveloped. To address this gap, we analyze focus group transcripts of AI adults with type 2 diabetes from five tribal communit...

American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) experience devastatingly high rates of suicide yet remain understudied and underserved regarding suicide prevention and intervention efforts. This chapter provides an overview of suicide among AI/AN populations, including AI/AN youth who experience some of the greatest risks and highest rates of death by suic...

Indigenous communities lack representation in psychiatric epidemiology despite disproportionate exposure to risk factors. We document the cumulative and 12-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders across the early life course among a sample of Indigenous young adults and compare prospective and retrospective reporting of lifetime mental disorders....

Background Extensive research demonstrates that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are highly interconnected and have numerous health consequences well into adulthood. Yet, there is a dearth of focused research that examines ACEs and health inequities for American Indians (AIs). Objective To assesses the prevalence of ten types of childhood adve...

Background Racial discrimination, including microaggressions, contributes to health inequities, yet research on discrimination and microaggressions has focused on single measures without adequate psychometric evaluation. To address this gap, we examined the psychometric performance of three discrimination/microaggression measures among American Ind...

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) studies transformed our understanding of the true burden of trauma. Notable elements of Felitti and colleagues’ findings include the influence of adversity on many physical as well as psychological problems and the persistence of impacts decades after the traumas occurred. In this article, we make the case t...

Background: Decades of evidence link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to worse health. Despite disproportionate rates of ACEs and health disparities in tribal communities, a gap exists in understanding the effects of ACEs on American Indian (AI) health. The purpose of this study is to estimate frequencies of eight categories of ACEs, assess th...

Research on recognition of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poly-victimization has transformed our understanding of violence and trauma exposure. Both concepts point to the importance of understanding the cumulative burden of trauma and the interconnections among forms of violence and abuse. However, there has been little conceptualization...

Existing research finds that LGBTQ youth of color are overrepresented in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Structural racism and LGBTQ stigma likely increase the risk of that LGBTQ youth of color will enter these systems. Once in the system, LGBTQ youth of color tend to remain longer and face an elevated risk of discrimination and vio...

American Indian health disparities have reached crisis levels, and there is a need to develop culturally congruent interventions through meaningful tribal involvement and ethical community-oriented approaches. Hence, it is imperative that researchers and university administrators better understand how research translation occurs for tribally driven...

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of select adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among a sample of American Indian (AI) adults living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the associations between ACEs and self-rated physical and mental health. We also examined associations between sociocultural factors and health, includ...

American Indian and Alaska Native sexual minority (two-spirit) women are vulnerable to substance misuse and mental health challenges due to multiple minority oppressed status and exposure to stress and trauma. Yet, these women find pathways toward healing and wellness. We conducted a qualitative data analysis of interviews derived from a national h...

In 2007 the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Minority Health, collaborating with other federal agencies, sponsored the Indian Country Methamphetamine Initiative (ICMI). ICMI was undertaken to create community-driven, culture-based best practices in methamphetamine prevention and treatment which could then be disseminated...