Indigenous self-determination in mental health and wellness research in the US and Canada: A scoping review

“Self-determination”, recognized within North American Indigenous spaces as a political concept associated with Tribal rights to self-government over lands, resources, and programs, has drawn recent attention from health psy-ence researchers engaged with Indigenous mental health. To understand the scope of this scholarship and characterize how self-determination terminology functions in relation to Indigenous mental health, we conducted a scoping review, asking: What is known about Indigenous self-determination in the North American context with respect to psychology and related health sciences? Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for scoping reviews, we conducted a literature search using four databases (PsychInfo, PubMed, Sociology Abstracts, Anthropology Plus), returning 2,442 publications that were screened in two rounds as being about: 1) Indigenous Peoples of North America, 2) Indigenous self-determination, and 3) psychology or related health fields. This yielded 277 publications. A frequency analysis revealed increasing scholarly attention to Indigenous self-determination, and a summative content analysis indicated variability in the term’s meaning within and between publications. Self-determination was most often associated with Indigenous collectives (n=600) pursuing greater freedoms, taking collective action, protecting psycho-cultural norms, and facilitating healing. It was used to refer to formal policies (n=293) relevant to building capacity, navigating barriers or limited possibilities, and defining Indigenous Peoples and priorities. Self-determination also characterized Indigenous individuals (n=128), including attention to individual agency, healing, choice, and psychological capacity. Findings revealed the need for clarity in definition and use by mental health scholars and underscored the importance of Indigenous leadership in mental health and wellness initiatives.