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Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors

OBJECTIVE: Although childhood adversity can have lasting effects into later life, positive adaptations have also been observed, including an increased tendency toward prosocial behavior. However, little is known about the link between childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior, with a par...

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Autores principales: Rohner, Shauna L., Salas Castillo, Aileen N., Carr, Alan, Thoma, Myriam V.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9490369/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36160558
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.966956
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author Rohner, Shauna L.
Salas Castillo, Aileen N.
Carr, Alan
Thoma, Myriam V.
author_facet Rohner, Shauna L.
Salas Castillo, Aileen N.
Carr, Alan
Thoma, Myriam V.
author_sort Rohner, Shauna L.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: Although childhood adversity can have lasting effects into later life, positive adaptations have also been observed, including an increased tendency toward prosocial behavior. However, little is known about the link between childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior, with a particular scarcity of research on intrafamilial childhood adversity. Therefore, this study aimed to examine older adult's experiences of childhood adversity and identify mechanisms linked to prosocial behavior. Two adversity contexts (intrafamilial and extrafamilial) were compared to explore individual, as well as broader cultural and contextual mechanisms linking childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews (60–120 min) were conducted with N = 29 Irish (older) adult survivors of childhood adversity: n = 12 intrafamilial survivors (mean age: 58 years, range: 51–72), n = 17 institutional survivors (mean age: 61 years, range: 50–77). Interviews were analyzed using the framework analysis method, with reference to the conceptual model of altruism born of suffering. RESULTS: Five themes were identified on prosocial mechanisms, with three themes in both survivor groups (enhanced empathy, self-identity, amelioration), and two group-specific themes (compassion fatigue in intrafamilial survivors; denouncing detrimental social values in institutional survivors). CONCLUSION: Results identified motivational processes and volitional factors linked to later life prosocial behavior. Connections to caring roles, (lack of) support, and social norms in childhood, as well as the need for a sense of purpose and meaning from the adversities in adulthood, highlight potential targets for psychotherapeutic intervention to promote prosocial responding and positive adaptation for childhood adversity survivors.
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spelling pubmed-94903692022-09-22 Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors Rohner, Shauna L. Salas Castillo, Aileen N. Carr, Alan Thoma, Myriam V. Front Psychol Psychology OBJECTIVE: Although childhood adversity can have lasting effects into later life, positive adaptations have also been observed, including an increased tendency toward prosocial behavior. However, little is known about the link between childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior, with a particular scarcity of research on intrafamilial childhood adversity. Therefore, this study aimed to examine older adult's experiences of childhood adversity and identify mechanisms linked to prosocial behavior. Two adversity contexts (intrafamilial and extrafamilial) were compared to explore individual, as well as broader cultural and contextual mechanisms linking childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews (60–120 min) were conducted with N = 29 Irish (older) adult survivors of childhood adversity: n = 12 intrafamilial survivors (mean age: 58 years, range: 51–72), n = 17 institutional survivors (mean age: 61 years, range: 50–77). Interviews were analyzed using the framework analysis method, with reference to the conceptual model of altruism born of suffering. RESULTS: Five themes were identified on prosocial mechanisms, with three themes in both survivor groups (enhanced empathy, self-identity, amelioration), and two group-specific themes (compassion fatigue in intrafamilial survivors; denouncing detrimental social values in institutional survivors). CONCLUSION: Results identified motivational processes and volitional factors linked to later life prosocial behavior. Connections to caring roles, (lack of) support, and social norms in childhood, as well as the need for a sense of purpose and meaning from the adversities in adulthood, highlight potential targets for psychotherapeutic intervention to promote prosocial responding and positive adaptation for childhood adversity survivors. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-09-07 /pmc/articles/PMC9490369/ /pubmed/36160558 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.966956 Text en Copyright © 2022 Rohner, Salas Castillo, Carr and Thoma. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Rohner, Shauna L.
Salas Castillo, Aileen N.
Carr, Alan
Thoma, Myriam V.
Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors
title Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors
title_full Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors
title_fullStr Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors
title_full_unstemmed Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors
title_short Childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: A qualitative comparative study of Irish older adult survivors
title_sort childhood adversity and later life prosocial behavior: a qualitative comparative study of irish older adult survivors
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9490369/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36160558
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.966956
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