ERIC Number: EJ1261996
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0888-4080
EISSN: N/A
My Family Matters: Past and Future Life Stories in Adolescents with Refugee Background
Ramsgaard, Stine Breum; Bohn, Annette
Applied Cognitive Psychology, v33 n6 p1247-1259 Nov-Dec 2019
Throughout adolescence, the ability to remember one's personal past and imagine one's personal future in the form of a coherent life story develops. This study explored adolescents' life stories in a group of adolescents with refugee background compared with community controls. In the refugee group, one or both parents had post-traumatic stress disorder. Adolescents aged 10 to 18 years narrated their past and future life stories and generated cultural life scripts. Contrary to expectations, refugee youth narrated past life stories that were as coherent and positive as community controls'. Interestingly, the refugee group imagined positive future life stories that were more coherent than the control group's. The refugee group mentioned important life themes of family of origin, own feelings, achievements, and helping others. These themes were evident in both the cultural life script and the personal life stories, which might have contributed to more positive and coherent life stories in the refugee group.
Descriptors: Adolescents, Refugees, Personal Narratives, Cultural Context, Family Life, Psychological Patterns, Achievement, Helping Relationship
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A