ABSTRACT
Developing an understanding of the correlates of mental health or illness draws upon varied disciplines, including biology, sociology, psychiatry, and psychology, to name the most prominent. In terms of the interests of the present effort, these disparate disciplines have coalesced around common elements-these are, the concept of stress and the notion or model of a stress process. As indicated previously, a weak information base exists in terms of mental health and elderly Native Americans. Thus, most of what is reviewed here are studies conducted on the dominant population and the researcher's ultimate objective is to test these same notions utilizing data drawn from elderly Native Americans. Initially, attention will be focused on the historical development of the stress concept, culminating with the development of the stress process model as it is presently conceptualized. The review will include a discussion of the variables that comprise the stress process model in general as well as how they relate to mental health in the elderly. Last, some attention will be paid to contributions from the Native American literature and other relevant literature and the chapter closes with a brief description of the existing health services delivery network as it relates to the Native American population. A testable model and corollary hypotheses will be generated in the next chapter.
