Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD Student in Counseling, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

2 PhD in Psychology, Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Education in school is considered to be the most important part of every adolescent's life, and exposure to a traumatic experience in this disturbing period can greatly affect it. However, trauma does not only lead to negative consequences and psychological trauma, as sometimes it also induces positive changes called “post-traumatic growth”. The main objective of this study was to explore the students' lived experience of academic factors affecting their post-traumatic growth
Methods: This qualitative study employed a descriptive phenomenological method. The participants were 15 male and female adolescent students sponsored by an NGO supporting orphans in Isfahan and were selected based on purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured and in-depth interviews, and analyzed by Colaizzi’s 7-step method in MAXQDA software.
Results: After data analysis, 296 primary codes were extracted and classified into 11 categories. Then, 4 main themes including the school support network, teacher's role, school attachment, and academic well-being appeared in the participants' experiences.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that post-traumatic growth after the father’s sudden death among adolescents is affected by several academic factors such as the school support network, teacher's role, school attachment, and academic well-being. Therefore, schools can provide a suitable context for students to reach this growth by developing and implementing appropriate counseling and intervention programs.

Keywords

  1. Blaustein ME. Childhood trauma and a framework for intervention. In E. Rossen & R. Hull (Eds.), Supporting and educating traumatized students: a guide for school-based professionals. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2013.
    2. McDiarmid L, Taku K. Family-Valued and personally important posttraumatic growth in american and japanese adolescents. J Child Fam Stud. 2017; 26(2):357-369. doi: 10.1007/s10826-016-0565-8.
    3. Malone PA. Counseling adolescents through loss, grief, and trauma. NY: Routledge; 2016.
    4. Casey B, Jones RM, Levita L, Libby V, Pattwell SS, Ruberry EJ, et al. The storm and stress of adolescence: insights from human imaging and mouse genetics. Dev Psychobiol. 2010; 52(3):225-235. doi:10.1002/dev.20447.
    School, A Focal Point For Post-Traumatic… Asgari & Naghavi
    108 Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences 2020; 9(2):101-110
    5. Yeager K, Roberts A. Crisis intervention handbook: assessment, treatment, and research. 4th ed. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press; 2015.
    6. Richter D, Lemola S. Growing up with a single mother and life satisfaction in adulthood: a test of mediating and moderating factors. PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(6):e0179639. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179639.
    7. Haravuori H, Suomalainen L, Marttunen M. Quality of life in adolescents and young adults after a traumatic experience. Psychiatria Fennica. 2016; 47: 32-49.
    8. Gershenson S, Tekin E. The effect of community traumatic events on student achievement: evidence from the beltway sniper attacks. Education Finance and Policy. 2018; 13(4), 513-544.
    9. Dickens N. Prevalence of complicated grief and posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents following sibling death. Fam J. 2014; 22(1): 119-126. doi: 10.1177/1066480713505066.
    10. Yilmaz M. Growth thgrouh traumatic loss: The effect of grief-related factors, coping, and personality on posttraumatic growth. [PhD Dissertation]. Istanbul: the Bilgi: University of Istanbul; 2014.
    11. Taku K, Tedeschi RG, Cann A. Relationships of posttraumatic growth and stress responses in bereaved young adults. J Loss Trauma. 2015; 20(1):56-71. doi: 10.1080/15325024.2013.824306.
    12. Tedeschi RG, Shakespeare-Finch J, Taku K, Calhoun LG. Posttraumatic growth: theory, research, and applications. New York, NY: Routledge; 2018.
    13. Calhoun LG, Tedeschi RG. The foundations of posttraumatic growth: an expanded
    framework. Handbook of posttraumatic growth. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; 2014.
    14. Calhoun LG, Tedeschi RG, Cann A, Hanks EA. Positive outcomes following bereavement: paths to posttraumatic growth. Psychol Belg. 2010; 50(1-2): 125-143.
    15. Taku K, Kilmer RP, Cann A, Tedeschi RG, Calhoun LG. Exploring posttraumatic growth in Japanese youth. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 2012; 4(4):411-419. doi: 10.1037/a0024363.
    16. Stein CH, Petrowski CE, Gonzales SM, Mattei GM, Majcher JH, Froemming MW, et al. A matter of life and death: understanding continuing bonds and post-traumatic growth when young adults experience the loss of a close friend. J Child Fam Stud 2018; 27(3):725-738. doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0943-x.
    17. Taku K, McDiarmid L. Personally important posttraumatic growth in adolescents: the effect on self-esteem beyond commonly defined posttraumatic growth. J Adolesc. 2015; 44:224-231. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.08.001.
    18. Ying L, Wang Y, Lin C, Chen C. Trait resilience moderated the relationships between PTG and adolescent academic burnout in a post-disaster context. Pers Indiv Differ. 2016; 90:108-112. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.10.048.
    19. Molinaro ML, Fletcher PC. Taking lemons and making lemonade: posttraumatic growth from pediatric cancer. Clin Nurse Spec. 2018; 32(5):268-278. doi: 10.1097/NUR.0000000000000397.
    20. Ha JY, Sim BY. Needs analysis of posttraumatic growth program for college
    School, A Focal Point For Post-Traumatic… Asgari & Naghavi
    Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences 2020; 9(2):101-110 109
    student of school bullying. Advanced Science and Technology Letters. 2016; 132: 1-6.
    21. Leavy P. The Oxford handbook of qualitative research. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2014.
    22. Creswell JW, Creswell JD. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2017.
    23. Helgeson VS, Reynolds KA, Tomich PL. A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth. J Consulti Clin Psychol. 2006; 74(5): 797-816. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.797.
    24. Heidarzadeh M, Rassouli M, Shahbolaghi F, Alavi Majd H, Mirzaei H, Tahmasebi M. Assessing dimensions of posttraumatic growth of cancer in survived patients. J Holist Nurs Midwifery. 2015; 25(2): 33-41.
    25. Edward KL, Welch T. The extension of Colaizzi’s method of phenomenological inquiry. Contemp Nurse. 2011; 39(2):163-171. doi: 10.5172/conu.2011.163.
    26. Lincoln YS, Guba EG. The constructivist credo. London: Left Coast Press; 2013.
    27. Baglama B, Atak IE. Posttraumatic growth and related factors among postoperative breast cancer patients. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2015; 190:448-454. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.05.024.
    28. Brooks M, Graham-Kevan N, Robinson S, Lowe M. Trauma characteristics and posttraumatic growth: the mediating role of avoidance coping, intrusive thoughts, and social support. Psychol Trauma. 2019; 11(2):232-238. doi: 10.1037/tra0000372.
    29. Iimura S, Taku K. Positive developmental
    changes after the transition to high school: is retrospective growth correlated with measured changes in the current status of personal growth? J Youth Adolesc. 2018; 47(6):1192-1207. doi: 10.1007/s10964-018-0816-7.
    30. Sadoughi M, Ghafari O. Relationship between academic support with academic burnout among high school students with the mediating role of quality of life in school. Journal of School Administration. 2018; 6(1): 206-226. [In Persian]
    31. Schreiber V, Maercker A, Renneberg B. Social influences on mental health help-seeking after interpersonal traumatization: a qualitative analysis. BMC Public Health. 2010; 10(1):634. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-634.
    32. Abedi H, Hossenigolafshani SZ, Ahmadi F. Reflection on the experiences of disabled people: the society as a cause of growth or barrier. J Qual Res Health Sci. 2013; 2(3): 248-260. [In Persian]
    33. Dods J. Enhancing understanding of the nature of supportive school-based relationships for youth who have experienced trauma. Canadian Journal of Education. 2013; 36(1):71-95.
    34. Boerner M, Joseph S, Murphy D. The association between sense of humor and trauma-related mental health outcomes: two exploratory studies. J Loss Trauma. 2017; 22(5):440-52. doi: 10.1080/15325024.2017.1310504.
    35. Jordan JV. Relational-cultural therapy. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association; 2010.
    36. Crosby SD, Somers CL, Day AG, Zammit M, Shier JM, Baroni BA. Examining school attachment, social
    School, A Focal Point For Post-Traumatic… Asgari & Naghavi
    110 Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences 2020; 9(2):101-110
    support, and trauma symptomatology among court-involved, female students. J Child Fam Stud. 2017; 26(9):2539-2546. doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0766-9.
    37. D’Urso A, Mastroyannopoulou K, Kirby