Poster #61 - Understanding Narrative Formation and Adaptation among Emancipated Foster Youth

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Narratives, especially ones focused on trauma, influence how we relate to our past, current and future selves (Singer, 2004). Narratives feature multiple layers, including (i) semantic and affective narrative content and (ii) narrative processes, such as reflection and elaboration. Given foster youth’s high level of trauma exposure, understanding how narrative features develop and relate to youth’s adaptation will broaden the literature on narratives and inform therapeutic practices to harness narrative layers for positive change. Drawing on a large sample of newly emancipated foster youth, this study identified distinct classes of narrative content and process and evaluated their developmental antecedents and contemporaneous adjustment correlates.
The current analyses included 167 newly emancipated foster youth (Mage = 19.60, SD = 1.12; 65.9% female) who identified as multiracial (32.9%), Black (22.8%), Latine (15.6%) or white (15.6%). Youth provided five-minute free speech narratives about their experiences in foster care and how they affected them. Verbatim transcriptions were coded for narrative dimensions of content and process using 7-point Likert scales (Sher-Censor & Yates, 2015). Scores were then dichotomized for a latent class analysis with follow-up chi-square analyses to evaluate class differences for categorical variables and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) followed by post-hoc Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons for continuous variables.
A three-class solution emerged as the best fitting model (see Figure 1). Youth with Ruminating narratives (43.1%) depicted high negative affect, elaboration, and reflective functioning, whereas those with Balanced narratives (28.7%) had high positive and negative affect, agency, and benefit finding, and Unprocessed narratives (28.1%) featured high negative affect and elaboration but lower rates of reflective functioning and cognitive-affective/emotional integration. A MANOVA revealed significant class differences for maltreatment (Wilks’ λ = .90, p = .029) but not child welfare history (Wilks’ λ = .94, p = .184; see Table 1). Only childhood emotional abuse severity varied across classes such that youth with Ruminating or Balanced narratives experienced more severe childhood emotional abuse than youth with Unprocessed narratives. Concurrent indicators revealed significant class difference for relationship adjustment (Wilks’ λ = 0.82, p =.004), coping (Wilk’s λ = 0.89, p = .049), and mental health as reported by both the participating youth and an outside informant (Wilk’s λ = .82, p = .020). Youth in the Ruminating group displayed generally poor adjustment, whereas youth in the Balanced group showed generally good adjustment, and youth with Unprocessed narratives showed mixed adjustment.
The findings suggest that youth with Ruminating narratives may be good candidates for therapy as rumination predicts maintenance of therapy treatments (Alpert et al., 2020). Youth in the Unprocessed group may benefit from limited reflection in the context of their largely negative narrative (Gross & Cassidy, 2019). Thus, these youth may also benefit from efforts to increase their positive affect before enhancing their reflective ability. The emotional abuse history of those who provided Balanced narratives highlights foster youth’s capacity for resilience. This research speaks to the value of attending not only to potential vulnerabilities, but also to strengths evident in foster youth’s narratives.

Authors

• AnnaMaria Boullion, University of California - Riverside
  Presenting Author

• Linnea Linde-Krieger, University of Arizona

• Kay Lee, University of California, Riverside

• Efrat Sher-Censor, University of Haifa

• Tuppett M. Yates, University of California - Riverside