Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences
Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences

School, A Focal Point for Post-Traumatic Growth: The Lived Experience of Adolescent Students after Father’s Sudden Death

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Zahra Asgari 1
Azam Naghavi 2

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

https://doi.org/10.22062/jqr.2020.91455
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

Adolescent
Growth
Phenomenology
Qualitative research

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Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences
Volume 9, Issue 2
2020
Pages 101-110

  • Receive Date 15 November 2018
  • Accept Date 09 March 2019

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