Sustainable Development Goals
Abstract/Objectives
1. Research purpose Although there are many studies on the physical and mental health of aboriginal people reviewing the literature in the past, it is found that there are many gaps between the vocabulary of assessment tools and the physical and mental state and life context of aboriginal people, so past research may have some differences with its use. To understand the differences and understanding limitations of the actual life context of the locals (aboriginal people), this the research will take a three-year plan to consider the distribution of the local aboriginal people, mainly the Atayal people, and will construct a social and psychological model of the physical and mental health of the Aboriginal people. This model was used to develop the physical and mental health scale, which was a reference for the subsequent assessment of the physical and psychological health of the aboriginal people. 2. Research methods In the first year, the Atayal Physical and Mental Health Scale was developed based on the social and psychological model of Atayal physical and mental health constructed in the first year. The first stage is to create a question bank. In the second stage, experts are invited to review the questions to form the initial form of the scale. The third stage is the pre-examination. 30 Atayal people are invited to participate in the pre-examination as a reference for the supplementary questions. The final step is to conduct a formal test. 350 Atayal people are invited to participate in this study and fill in the primary data sheet, Atayal Physical and Physical Health Scale, Bayesian Depression Scale, and Bayesian Anxiety Scale. The analysis methods mainly used descriptive statistics, internal consistency reliability tests, exploratory factor analyses, and confirmatory factor analyses to analyze the data. In the second year, the design and verification of the health promotion program was carried out in an experimental control research design, and the differences in the pre-test and post-test of physical and mental health, depression, and anxiety scores between the experimental group and the control group were compared to understand the effectiveness of the program.
Results/Contributions

Research Purpose: Building on the first year's exploration and development of a theoretical model of Atayal mental health, one-on-one interviews with 14 Atayal partners were conducted using grounded theory as the basis for data analysis. Five themes of mental health were identified: [Definition of Mental Health], [Manifestations of Mental Health], [Aspects of Mental Health], [Mechanisms of Mental Health], and [Others]. The definitions and aspects of mental health revealed that the Atayal tribe's view of mental health involves a process of harmony from within to the environment. In terms of mechanisms affecting mental health, the integration of traditional teachings (Gaga) and external beliefs (Christianity and Catholicism) plays a significant role. The second-year plan involves developing scales based on these five themes, inviting five Atayal experts to review the content and scoring methods, and translating the questionnaire into Atayal language using Romanized phonetics for ease of reading by Atayal partners.

Research Method: The researchers developed a question bank based on the five mental health themes and invited five experts to evaluate the questions and translate them into Atayal language (using Romanized phonetics). During the pilot phase, 30 participants were invited to complete the questionnaire to select the questions. In the formal testing phase, purposive sampling was used to collect data from 272 participants who completed the questionnaires, including the Atayal Mental Health Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, criterion-related validity, and internal consistency reliability were used for validation.

Research Results: The Atayal Mental Health Scale consists of three parts: health promotion methods (seven items, frequency-based), mental health status (22 items, degree-based), and stress events (eight items, severity-based). The overall internal consistency reliability is 0.949, with correlations of r=-0.27 with the depression scale and r=-0.22 with the anxiety scale, both reaching significant levels. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors: adherence to natural rhythms, following traditional teachings, and life stress and spirit, with internal consistency reliabilities of 0.956, 0.902, and 0.815, respectively.

Research Discussion: The Atayal Mental Health Scale developed in this study has good reliability. Additionally, the scale suggests that Atayal mental health may include adherence to traditional teachings (Gaga), natural rhythms, and general life stress. For the Atayal people, adherence to traditional teachings (Gaga) serves as a reference for their life rules and can be an implicit memory and skill. The relationship between the people and traditional teachings is like fish in water; the more they resonate with traditional teachings, the better their adaptation. Furthermore, maintaining cultural context in interactions with others under natural rhythms also affects their mental health. Lastly, daily life stress is also reflected in their mental health.

Research Suggestions: Future studies should continue to analyze the items and validate the scale with other related criteria to confirm its psychometric properties and develop corresponding mental health promotion programs.

Keywords
Atayalhealth promotionscales of mental healthgrounded theoryexploratory factor analysisconfirmatory factor analysis
Contact Information
李昆樺
kunhualee@mx.nthu.edu.tw