TRAUMA HISTORY AND PERSONAL NARRATIVES - SOME CLUES TO COPING AMONG SURVIVORS OF CHILD-ABUSE

Narrative features of the life stories of child abuse survivors and no nvictimized respondents were compared. Particular emphasis was placed on relatively ''objective'' features, given that the content of the na rrative typically precluded blind coding. The research focused on both the relative emphasis on the past versus present and future and on th e self versus others in respondents' stories. The narratives of child abuse survivors differed from the comparison group on both of these fe atures; their stories focused more on the past and de-emphasized the c entral role of the self. Greater emphasis on others was the best predi ctor of poor present coping among child abuse survivors. The narrative s of a second sample of respondents who reported having experienced tr aumatic parental divorce were studied for comparison purposes. Despite some similarities in narrative construction, the increased emphasis o n others, with its maladaptive associations, was unique to child abuse survivors.