Emotional expressiveness and avoidance in narratives of unaccompanied refugee minors

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Huemer, Julia
Nelson, Kristin
Karnik, Niranjan
Voelkl-Kernstock, Sabine
Seidel, Stefan
Ebner, Nina
Ryst, Erika
Friedrich, Max
Shaw, Richard J.
Realubit, Cassey

Issue Date

2016

Type

Article

Language

en_US

Keywords

narration , psycholinguistics , unaccompanied refugee minors , Trauma

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Alternative Title

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine a cohort of unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) by means of psycholinguistic methods in order to obtain a more subtle picture of their degree of traumatization. Methods: Twenty-eight participants were included in the Stress-Inducing Speech Task (SIST) consisting of a free association (FA) and a stress (STR) condition. Narratives were examined by means of (1) quantitative parameters (word count)
(2) psycholinguistic variables (temporal junctures, TJs), narrative structure, referential activity (RA)-a measure of emotional expressivity
and (3) content analysis ratings. Results: Word count was significantly lower than in age-matched norms. In the FA condition, TJs were lower, but in the STR condition, rates were comparable. RA was significantly higher in both conditions. Content analysis ratings showed that the experiences described by these youths were potentially traumatic in nature. Conclusions: This pattern of narrative shows a mixture of fulfilling the task demand, while containing an emotionally charged narrative. Narrative structure was absent in the FA condition, but preserved in the STR condition, as URMs struggled with the description of non-normative events. This indicates that these youths have not yet emotionally dealt with and fully integrated their trauma experiences.

Description

Citation

Huemer, J., Nelson, K., Karnik, N., Völkl-Kernstock, S., Seidel, S., Ebner, N., … Skala, K. (2016). Emotional expressiveness and avoidance in narratives of unaccompanied refugee minors. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 7(1), 29163. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v7.29163

Publisher

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

License

Attribution 4.0 International

Journal

Volume

Issue

PubMed ID

ISSN

2000-8066

EISSN

Collections