Narratives, Meaning Making, and Psychological Outcomes Among Adult Survivors of Intra-Familial Childhood Abuse

This work employed a case study design to explore the personal narratives of 3 adult survivors of childhood abuse. The participants were recruited from among the current patients of therapists in Metropolitan Chicago. The participants were asked to participate in a minimum of two interviews, both of which were taped so that they could be transcribed. The transcripts were analyzed using a descriptive analysis designed by the researcher. The goal of the study was to explore the themes of meaning making and psychological outcomes described by the participants. The researcher hoped to find that participants with positive themes in their meaning making would report positive psychological outcomes, while participants with negative psychological themes would report negative outcomes. The results of the study supported this hypothesis. Treatment implications of these findings were explored.